Thank you MaroonAngel of Darkness, xXLove'n'HateXx, liledormouse, flingfling-lovespurplexoxoxo, xSkulls-n-Bonesx, mombofamily, FBGoldfish, xXIkutos-Secret-LoverXx, Neji0932, Pinkiee-Chan, V-ball runner, rushi luvs anime8D, RandomlyBoredWolfy, xhappily-randomx, Random-Bubbles159, xxxUtauloverxxx, sylvanicara, Helapayne, Ladot, Diabolical Kitsutora, colourful gurl, 9996 characters, Loco_Roco_ Doosh, me me, Born2beAngel, VcChick, OnlyIkutos413, kimmy, Snowrosex3, xBlackCat, Kuro Neko-Chan, polaracebear, prettychinese15, Blue-Cat-94, Viladven, Ikutoluver995, jrfjjf, Kimsille, Ren'aiXhakumei, BlueAmuto, tiko0112number2, LadyofNemesis, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, Sakura, Kags21, TsukiyomiAlikutoMissaWatusi, XYNDiCATE, ichika7walkure, shakugan-chara, amuto fan, Amuto20174, smrtangel, ichiruki12741, Midnite Neko, The Dark Violinist, Thy_Amuto, VLLEYSK8ERCHERRYGIRL01, Kaggie101, HarunaNiwa073, insulife, Push Suki off a Bridge :), Animegirl67213, Miki-Chann, A-Shadow-Of-A-Doubt, amanda-panda322, mangafan15, bookwoooooorm=D, Yuki-ChanX3, spicygirl27, xXbunnyholicXx, mabbi, Samsafanfic, and Mara for reviewing!

Well anyways. That week away was a waste of my life. I ended up hurling multiple times during that.. I blame the food. I think cat food would've tasted better than that fcking bullshit. And I can't believe I'm even still awake to do this. I felt like going to sleep and dying ages ago. Even though it's been a few days since then, I'm still a bit tired. Going to sleep at two in the morning and then waking up again at seven everyday for a week just doesn't work out for me.

CHAPTER 43 = LOVE. Read it or I swear I shall bite your sad little head off :3
And also go listen to the character CD :) I'm kind of disappointed with Ikuto's song though... it doesn't sound like him very much :\ Maybe because Ikuto's character just wasn't made to be singing... But Utau and Amu made up for that :D

And for those of you who have watched the movie 1OO Days With Mr. Arrogant, the ending to this story is pretty similar to the beginning of that movie. The can hits head thing :3 I loved that movie, even though the ending made no sense XD

Anyways... thank you guys so much for all those reviews! It's the most I've gotten. Ever. *Hugs everyone*

- two years later; early December -

Ikuto glared at the papers in front of him with extreme distaste. This small stack in front of him was what was keeping him from finding Amu. Groaning, he leaned back in his chair, his head tilting backwards as he closed his eyes for a moment. He hated having this kind of stuff get in his way.

After a couple of weeks of moping, Ikuto decided that the best thing to do was to find Amu. He dedicated all his time to that cause, rarely doing anything else... in fact he would only sleep for a couple hours a week; the bare minimum to stay alive.

But his step-father, who had found about how much time Ikuto was using to search for his secretary, decided to give the blue-haired man a mini "promotion". And along with all the new luxuries of a promotion, like more workers to order around and a bigger office, there were also always a downside: more work.

Not that it bothered Ikuto that much. Apparently it only mattered to his step-father whether Ikuto himself went out to search or not. It was completely fine for Ikuto to make it some of his workers' full time jobs to find Amu. Though Ikuto would much rather have the satisfaction of knowing that he could find Amu himself, this newfound trick still helped him out a lot.

As for Suki, Ikuto never talked to her much again. In fact, he made a point to arrive and leave work during the most inconvenient times for the singer so that there was a lesser chance of the two of them running into each other. Sometimes, however, they still would meet. And like always, Suki would try to seduce him again. And sometimes Ikuto might not be able to resist hard enough and the singer would get her way sometimes. But that flashing, painful memory of Amu's hurt face would make it's way into the center of Ikuto's mind, and he would always find some excuse to get away from Suki.

A sharp knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Ikuto quickly sat up straight and pretended to look over the papers in front of him.

"Come in." He said boredly. The door creaked open, and a man slipped in; a small folder tucked under his arm.

"Sir," He said. "We found out where Hinamori has been staying."

Ikuto blinked. He couldn't believe it. Should he? Was this the truth, or was it all some kind of cruel, sick joke that someone decided to play on him?

The man silently handed him the folder. Ikuto opened it and gasped slightly. The folder was filled with all the information that Ikuto needed. Amu's new adress, her phone number, the location of her current job, everything.

As if Ikuto needed more proof, there was a small picture paper-clipped to the corner of one the papers. It was a pretty recent picture of Amu, who was still completely oblivious to the fact that she was getting her picture taken as she flipped through a menu in a restaurant. Ikuto's eyes immediately softened as he recognized her as the secretary who quit because of that one huge mistake all those years ago.

Amu's bright pink hair and honeycomb eyes still made Ikuto's heart skip a beat as they stood out from the crowd, although her hair had been grown up a bit longer, past her shoulders; and her eyes had lost their childish, playful shine. Instead, they were replaced by a more dull shade, a look that told the world that the person with those eyes had given up on everything in their world.

... And that would be no one but Ikuto's fault.

"Great..." He whispered, half to the confused worker standing there and half to himself. "This is so perfect..."

Ikuto closed his eyes and smiled softly as he slouched onto the chair. Even if Amu hated him and didn't want him to find her, at least he had the comfort and satisfaction of knowing that she was alive and alright.

"Um... Tsukiyomi-san..." The worker asked tentatively. "If you don't mind me asking.. why do you want to find this girl so bad...?"

Ikuto jumped slightly, startled at how bluntly the question was put. He turned to give the worker a hard stare.

"It's none of your business," He said in a tone that was a bit colder than necessary. "Now go. I'll make sure you get paid a bit extra for finding this."

The worker brightened visibly at this and left the office without a word. Ikuto's fingers began subconsciously stroking the small photo of his loved one.

Amu... I'm coming for you...

- Christmas Eve -

"Have a nice Christmas holiday!" Amu cheerfully said to the customer as she placed the money into the cash register. The customer smiled as she picked up the box holding a nicely decorated cake and left.

"Thank you so much for offering to work today," A voice behind the pinkette said suddenly, startling her. "I never knew it would be so hard running a bakery that would still be open up until the last day before a holiday!"

Amu turned around and smiled at her boss, who returned the happy expression. Although she had been working here almost ever since she left Ikuto, she still had a hard time thinking of this person as her boss. In her mind, Tsukiyomi Ikuto would always fit the "boss" image, not some woman named Fujisaki Nadeshiko who ran a bakery.

"At least you're here," Nadeshiko continued. "Just because Christmas is tomorrow doesn't mean the amount of customers is any less than normal."

Amu laughed.

"I'm just glad I can help," She said. "It's fun working here anyways."

Nadeshiko shrugged as she walked toward the door, flipping the 'open' signed so that it said 'closed'. Amu raised an eyebrow.

"We're closing so early?" She asked with disbelief. During the previous years, even during special occasions, the small bakery never failed to open and close at it's normal times. Why should this year be any different?

Nadeshiko looked a bit uncomfortable with the question.

"Actually, Amu..." She said slowly. "We're closing the bakery. For good."

Amu gasped.

"B-But why?" She asked. Nadeshiko shook her head sadly.

"Even though we get a good amount of customers each day," She explained. "It's still not enough to keep this place running. For some reason nowadays, the bills are a lot more than they were when I first opened this place up, and there isn't enough money to pay for them anymore. I'm going to have to close the place down."

Amu frowned.

"Oh..." She said softly. "I'm going to miss working here..."

Nadeshiko smiled and gave the pinkette a reassuring hug.

"You're a great person," She assured her. "Both as a worker and as a friend. You'll probably find another job that can pay even more in no time."

Amu flinched. A worker and a friend... it reminded her so much of Ikuto, and how the two of them were "co-workers", but would normally spend more time fooling around together than actually working.

She stood up suddenly, a burning pain in her heart beginning to grow at the memory of the blue-haired man. She wanted to get out of here before the pain grew even unbearable. Get to some place where she could be alone and cry her heart out without anyone staring or questioning her about it. The whole aspect of crying over Ikuto still, after all the years, was pretty unbelieveable to Amu. She hadn't seen anything about him and Suki ever since she left, so she assumed the two of them were really avoiding each other.

"Then I'll get going now," She mumbled, quickly stepping out of the bakery. She had a feeling this day was just going to go downhill from here.

~ i s n o w x 3 ~

Ikuto let out a frustrated sigh as he rolled down the window of his car, taking another hopeful glance outside for any signs of Amu. He had been in the town specified by the papers for a couple of weeks now, and yet he hadn't seen his former secretary anywhere.

He had asked locals of the small town if Amu was really indeed here, and sure enough, everyone has heard of or been around her bubbly presence at some point. Just Ikuto could never see her. It was as if Amu's instincts made her subconsciously avoid Ikuto at all costs. Whatever it was, Ikuto didn't like it.

"So Ikuto," A voice said. "What are we doing here?"

Ikuto turned around, yelping loudly when he saw Suki crouched in his back seat.

"Suki?!" He yelled, stomping on the breaks and pulling the car to a stop. He didn't care that they were stopped in the middle of the road; it was a pretty empty road anyways. "What the f*cking hell are you doing in my car?!"

Ikuto was shocked at himself. He rarely used language like that.

Suki smiled, leaping over to sit on him.

"Suki-chan's been really busy lately," She said innocently. "So she thought she'd take a small break from everything to visit Ikuto-kun!"

Ikuto made a face. Of all the time in the world, she had to come visit him now.

"Suki..." He said through his teeth. "Get off me. Now."

Suki, afraid of his sudden mood-change, opened the car door and stepped out.

"Ikuto-kun's in a really bad mood," She commented, extending an arm to stroke his midnight-blue hair. "So Suki should stay here and help to make him feel better!"

That gave Ikuto a sudden idea. He eyed a trucking that carried packages that were to be delivered. He grabbed Suki's small hand in his, pulling her towards the truck.

"Where are we going?" Suki asked, a bit confused. Ikuto smirked. He stopped in his tracks, turning around and leaning in closer to the singer's face.

"You're right. I have a bit of a headache today, which would explain me being mean. So here's how I'm going to make up for it. It's a surprise from your Ikuto-kun," He lied, looking straight into Suki's eyes and making her loose her balance for a moment. "So just go along with it, will you? You don't want to make Ikuto's life any harder..."

Suki smiled.

"N-no," She stammered. "I don't want to make anything difficult for Ikuto-kun..."

Ikuto grinned.

"Good," He whispered seductively. "So you're not going to ask any questions or throw any of your cute tantrums, are you?"

"N-No..."

"That's my Suki," He said, forcing some love into his tone. Every word coming out of his mouth reminded him of Amu, and that amount of pain inside of his heart just wouldn't work with him right now. But it was all necessary to get Suki away from him whenever he found Amu.

Ikuto continued pulling Suki towards the truck. They arrived just as the man was stepping out of the vehicle.

"Wait here," Ikuto said to Suki, running towards the man holding some packages from the truck.

"Excuse me," He said quietly to the man, pulling out a few hundred dollar bills from his pocket. "I'll give you... one thousand dollars if you take that girl over there" He motioned towards Suki. "And drive her back to Tokyo. You can just kick her off in front of Easter's building."

The man eyed the wad of money in Ikuto's hand hungrily and nodded as he snatched the money. Ikuto smirked, and waved an arm for Suki to come closer.

"Now Suki," He instructed. "This nice man over here is going to take you to... our special place, okay? So don't complain or cause him any trouble as he's driving. Ikuto will be there a bit later, since he still has to get a few presents for Suki-chan."

Suki's eyes widened.

"We have a special place?" She asked hopefully. Ikuto smirked and nodded. "Where?"

"It's a surprise," Ikuto lied. The only way that would work out was that if an office building was special in any way. Which it wasn't. Not that it mattered. All Ikuto needed was for Suki to believe it.

Suki smiled brightly.

"Yay!" She said cheerfully, skipping into the truck. Ikuto smirked as he watched it drive away.

What an idiot...

~ i s n o w x 3 ~

Amu glared at the snowy ground as she trudged back to her apartment. It was cold out, she had no job anymore, and Ikuto wouldn't leave her mind for some reason.

Today just wasn't Amu's day. She was sure of it.

She regretted her decision of leaving Ikuto immensely, since she never let him really finish what he was trying to say. What if it was something important? What if it was a logical and believable explanation for what she saw in the office? What if it was... an apology?

Amu quickly wiped the tears away. It's too late now. She can't go back. And not just because she didn't have the money to afford a plane ticket and someone to move all her stuff anymore.

Even if she did go back, it wasn't like she could expect Ikuto to find her and welcome her back with open arms. It had been almost three years for God's sake. If anything, her previous boss would just ignore her existence completely. He was probably somewhere, happy and content with Suki. Amu didn't want to risk going back and find the two of them making out again. It caused her so much pain last time she witnessed that...

As she walked through one of the emptier parts of town, she noticed a small can lying on the ground. Amu picked it up and examined it.

People shouldn't litter like this... I blame Global Warming on them.

She eyed the can. Maybe she could have a little fun, take out her anger and frustration, on the poor can. She placed it back on the ground, standing it up straight. Then Amu jumped up, stomping on the can and flattening it into a perfect disk. She took a step back, admiring her work.

Amu gave the now flattened can a strong kick. She looked up, smiling slightly as she watched it soar through the air.

So pretty...

~ i s n o w x 3 ~

Ikuto was pissed. Very pissed. So angry to the point where he would probably crush the next thing he laid his fingers on. He had searched everywhere in the main parts of the town. In fact, he even tried Amu's house, but sadly no one was there.

He made another turn, driving into a practically empty street. The only hints of life he saw around were the occasional tree and maybe a person or two rushing home before the holidays.

His eyelids drooped slightly as he fell forward in his seat. He was hungry. He was cold, the downside of getting a convertible in the middle of a snowy winter... and then accidentally breaking the roof. He was angry. And he was tired; barely sleeping a couple minutes ever since he arrived in the town that Amu lived in. Ikuto had to rely purely on caffine and his love for the pinkette to keep himself awake at this point.

... Although now, even that isn't working out that great for him. Right now, he was ready to just drop down anywhere and sleep.

Ikuto leaned back in the seat, closing his eyes. He shivered slightly from the snow lightly falling ontop of him, but was so exhausted that he barely noticed it at all.

"Maybe if I took a small, five minute nap..." He whispered to himself as his body fell slack in the car. Ikuto was asleep within moments.

After about five minutes, he was awoken by something small and sharp hitting him on the head. Ikuto jumped up, startled. His foot slipped and accidentally pressed the gas pedal, sending the car speeding out of control. Though he tried his best to stop the car, Ikuto still ended up getting his car slammed into the wall of an abandoned warehouse.

Ikuto looked around wildly to see what might have caused this. He saw a small, flattened can laying next to him. Picking it up, he examined the edge of it.

So... this stupid can caused me to total the front of my car...?

Ikuto jumped up and looked to see who hit him with the can. There was nobody around, except for one girl slowly walking by herself down the empty road. Ikuto couldn't recognize her, her hood had been pulled up so he couldn't see her face.

"Hey, you!" He called out at the girl. The girl ignored him and kept walking.

Frustrated, Ikuto ran out of the car and chased the girl. Now that his car was damaged, it would slow down his search for Amu. Which was no help to his already bad mood.

The girl suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"Me?" She asked quietly, pointing to herself. But she refused to meet his gaze as she kept her face hidden in her hood. Ikuto glared at her and nodded.

"Yes, you!" He said harshly. He showed her the can. "Did you throw this?"

The girl thought for a moment, and then shook her head.

"Nope," She said dryly. "I kicked it."

Ikuto sighed.

"Whatever!" He yelled. "Well you're 'kicking' did that to my car!"

The girl shrugged.

"Well sorry," She said quietly, turning around to leave again.

"No." Ikuto said firmly. "Not 'sorry'. You're going to have to pay for that, you know?"

At this, the girl broke off into a full run.

~ i s n o w x 3 ~

Amu ran as fast as she could away from the man. Of course, she was extremely sorry that she damaged his car to that extent, but there was no way she was going to be able to pay for it. There were giant dents and scratches all over the front of the car; it would probably take hundreds if not thousands of dollars to pay for all of it.

And that amount was something that Amu didn't have. She had no more job, and she still had to pay for necessities like food and apartment rent. She just didn't have the money to pay this guy for his car.

So her solution was to run. Run like she never did before, and maybe outrun the guy.

"Get back here!" The man yelled, but Amu ignored him and kept running. She could hear him chasing after her, and used all her energy to keep going.

Amu finally stumbled and fell as the man jumped on her and tackled her to the ground. Luckily, her fall was cushioned by a thick layer of snow, but that still didn't help with the amount of trouble she was in right now.

"Gomenesai! Gomenesai!" Amu sobbed over and over again, sitll refusing to look at the guy. "It was an accident! I'm really really sorry!"

"Yeah," The man said sarcastically, standing up. He grabbed Amu's hood and roughly pulled it off her head, gasping at who it was.

"Amu..." He whispered, his grip loosening instantly. Amu finally turned around to slowly look at him. Her eyes widened.

"I...I-Iku...to?!" She gasped. Ikuto nodded and dropped down on his knees next to her.

"Ikuto I'm so sorry!" Amu cried, throwing her arms around him. "I'm sorry for ruining your car! It's just that I can't pay for it right now...a-and-"

"Amu." Ikuto interupted her. "You shouldn't be apologizing."

Amu looked up at him, confused.

"B-But I damaged your car...." She trailed off. Ikuto wordlessly pulled a small envelope out of his pocket, handing it to Amu.

"Don't apologize for anything," He said softly. "It'll make me only feel worse."

Amu was beyond confused at this point. She took the envelope, opening it up. Inside was a folded, worn-out piece of paper. The creases were very distinct, along with may wrinkles and accidental rips. It was as if the paper had been unfolded and folded many times, the content being read very often.

She gasped again. It was the letter, the same letter that she had left for Ikuto that day she left.

Had Ikuto really bothered to keep it after all these years?

Amu noticed that scrawled on the bottom, in a handwriting completely different from her own, there was a small section of words written. It looked a lot like.. Ikuto's handwriting.

(A/N. Italics are Amu's handwriting. Bold is Ikuto's.)

P.S. In the envelope is the lock necklace you gave me. I thought you might as well have it back, since you already have the key. Go give it to that special person. I'm not keeping it because I know I'm not that someone. Have a nice life.

P.S.S. Still in the envelope is the lock I gave you. Take it back since I still have the key. I'm doing exactly what you said to do: give it to that special person. Keep the necklace because that person is you. So if you want me to have a nice life that badly, then I need you with me. You don't understand how sorry I am, how much I wished I could have rewinded time and avoided the whole thing... how much I love you.

Amu blinked a couple times, not believing what she was seeing.

"Amu?" Ikuto asked, a nervous look beginning to fill his features as he watched the unmoving pinkette next to him. "Are you okay?"

"What you wrote..." Amu whispered. "Did you really... mean that? Is everything there true?"

Ikuto nodded, placing an arm on Amu's shoulder. Amu was silent for a few more moments. Then she suddenly broke into a round of new, louder sobs. IKuto grabbed her and pulled her into another warm embrace.

"Amu," He said soothingly. "Don't cry..."

Amu ignored him and continued crying. The two of them just sat there in the snow, silently appreciating the other's presence, when a strong wind blew past them. Amu felt her teeth chatter at the cold.

"You're cold," Ikuto whispered into her hair. "You're shivering."

Amu was, but she tried to ignore the fact. She closed her eyes, melting in his embrace like she used to, reveling in the feel of his strong arms around her, his hard chest beneath her cheek. She wished she could stay like this, with Ikuto, where she was sure nothing could ever hurt her.

Of course, now that Ikuto knew that Amu was cold, he wasn't going to let her sit in the snow for much longer. He suddenly stood up. Amu didn't object as he pulled her up with him. She wiped away the last of her tears just as Ikuto was leading her to the car.

"Wonder if it'll still work..." Ikuto muttered to himself as he opened the car door for Amu. Amu frowned. She still felt guilty for the whole 'making his car crash into a wall' thing, but she still slipped into the car without protest. Ikuto climbed into the drivers seat.

"So Amu," He told her softly. "I am so sorry f-for... for everything. For what happened with Suki, for being mean to you when we first met, for causing you so much trouble when I was staying with you, everything. Can you forgive me...?"

Amu closed her eyes and thought for a moment, weighing every little thing in her head. Despite the ups and downs, Ikuto would always be there with a smile and a shoulder to cry on for her. All the way up until that last moment, when Amu decided to leave.

Even so, it wasn't Ikuto's fault that he let Suki kiss him. It's not like he was hers or anything. He still had his free will. Amu knew that she shouldn't deny him of that.

Ikuto watched her carefully, his whole body tense. Amu finally opened her eyes again, a small smile playing on her lips and the old playfullness in her eyes beginning to revive it self again.

"Do I still have to pay for the car damages?" She joked. Ikuto smirked.

"Nope."

"Then you're forgiven," Amu told him. Ikuto grinned.

"Do you think you could..." He asked slowly. "Stay with me in the hotel room tonight...?"

Amu laughed.

"You pervert. Only if you don't do anything weird."

"... Fine. Then you're staying with me."

~ i s n o w x 3 ~

Amu and Ikuto sat side by side on the large hotel bed, staring at each other as if there was a non-official blinking contest in between them. Amu bent her face towards him and waited until his lips met hers. He brought his mout to hers again and again, slowly and softly at first, but then with a growing urgency.

Minutes had passed, but Amu had no idea how many, when Ikuto pulled his face back from hers.

"I love you."

He said it simply, quietly. He didn't say those words as she had imagined them said so many times by characters in books and movies. He didn't say them with desperation, with pleading, with futile rage or florid passion. He spoke without lasciviousness; only with the intention of getting his point across and being understood.

But it was good enough for Amu. Her response was a smile that was radiant and beyond her control.

"You know I don't love Suki anymore, and I never will again," Ikuto continued. "I admit I did use to love her, but that was before and now-"

Amu heard enough, knowing that Ikuto was just going to say the same the thing over and over again with a different arrangement of words each time. She stopped Ikuto with a lasting, humid kiss. Ikuto smirked, but didn't try to continue what he was trying to say as he returned the kiss.

The two of them enjoyed those blissful moments for a while, until both were completely out of breath. Amu was already half asleep so Ikuto just let her be the way she was.

Later, at some remote part of the night, Amu woke up to find Ikuto laying next to her, examining her sleeping face. He watched her, and she watched him back. She got up and changed into one of Ikuto's shirts so she could be more comfortable when she slept, but she mostly spent the rest of the hours before morning curled up against his chest as tightly as possible.

~ i s n o w x 3 ~

Amu couldn't remember when her thoughts merged into sleep, but she knew exactly when she was wakened. There was the feeling of Ikuto shifting slightly on the bed in his sleep, and then Amu opened her eyes to find the room bathed in morning light.

She turned around and saw Ikuto's handsome, sleeping face beside her own on the bed. His face looked even in the better, at close range. The snow outside, which had stopped sometime in the night, had started up again, showering the outside view with little white specks.

Shrugging, Amu moved back into the warmth of the sleeping form beside her and let her eyelids flutter contentedly shut. She was going to enjoy being sound asleep in Ikuto's arms for just a few moments longer.

- Christmas Day -

"Merry Christmas, Amu," Ikuto said as the girl being spoken of dragged him out of the hotel. Amu turned around and laughed.

"Christmas!" She said, sounding a lot like a small child excited about their upcoming birthday. "Can we go play in the snow today?"

Ikuto smiled and nodded. Amu continued tugging him towards a park across the street. As soon as the two of them got there, Amu packed together a snow ball and threw it at Ikuto. It hit him square in the face.

"So you're aim really has improved since last time," Ikuto said as he brushed the snow away from his face. He was referring to all those paper fights the two of them had back in Ikuto's office.

Amu grinned.

"So now I can hit you with more snowballs than you can hit me with" She screamed cheerfully as she gathered up some more snow to throw it him. Ikuto smirked.

"No way," He said skeptically. "I'll always be able to throw better than you. Don't deny it.'

Amu put on a cute pouting face, raising her arm to throw another snow ball at Ikuto. Unfortunately, just as she was about to throw, she was pelted in the head by three snowballs. She fell backwards into the snow, shaking with laughter.

"Point proven," Ikuto teased, walking over and extending an arm out to help Amu up again. Amu stood up and shook her head.

"Never," She said determinedly, beginning to form a small pile of snowballs next to her. Ikuto joined in on her laughter as he began to do the same.

Anyone walking by would have given a strange look to the two people that were practically adults and yet still throwing snow at each other. But to Amu and Ikuto, they were having fun while in love.

~ i s n o w x 3 ~

Amu lay in Ikuto's arms, still laughing yet completely exhausted from their mini-war. Ikuto lay beside her in the snow, panting while just as worn out as the girl next to him.

"That was fun," Amu breathed contentedly, resting her head on the crook of his elbow. Ikuto smiled and nodded.

"So now that I know that you live here," He said. "Can I come visit you often? It's not too far from Easter, so I should be able to find some excuse to come here every now and then?"

Amu's smile faded and she shook her head. Ikuto listened and watched her intently as she explained her situation. About how she just lost her job, and wouldn't be able to pay for the apartment for much longer.

Ikuto suddenly sat up, pulling Amu with him.

"You're moving in with me," He said simply. "Back to Tokyo. In my house. If you don't like anything that's in my house, we can get rid of it all and replace it with what you want. I don't care. But you're going to live wth me."

He turned to look at Amu, who was idly piling up some snow on the ground to make a small hill of the white powdery stuff.

"Amu!" Ikuto said, pretending to be frustrated. "Were you even listening?!"

Amu looked up at him, a wide smile on her face as she nodded.

"Yup!" She said in her usual childish tone. "Now listen to this great idea I have!"

Ikuto laughed and shook his head. Amu probably hadn't been listening at all.

Amu stood up in front of him.

"We're going to make a snowman!" She said excitedly. "The biggest snowman ever! It's going to be so big that they're going to have to give us a world record for it!"

Ikuto sighed. Amu's childish and immature side was so much fun to be around. It used to annoy him so much, but now he wanted it to be with him forever. Laughing, he stood up and began to gather snow to help Amu with her "giant snowman".

He loved Amu, and now he didn't have to be afraid and hide it deep in his heart. It was Christmas. And Amu was pressuring him to win a world record with her.

Today couldn't get any better for him.

- Epilogue... sort of... I think -

Suki flipped through the channels on TV boredly. Ikuto had never showed up, and she ended up in front of Easter's building instead of their "special place".

She continued until she saw one show in particular that caught her eye. It was something about how a couple won a world record for building the world's largest snowman.

"A snowman?" She asked herself. "How stupid."

But then she saw exactly who it was winning.

.... It was Ikuto and Amu.

Suki shook her head sadly.

I give up. That guy's just too dedicated.

OH MY GOD. SO FREAKING LONG.

Review. 7OO? Please? Onegai?

Thank you to those who were kind enough to review every single chapter, all the way to the end. I love you guys :)

And about my next story, could you guys all go and vote again? I'm kind of "meh" about doing Prisoner of Love, which got the most votes. While I was gone, I was thinking about that, and I figured that there was no way I could do a story like that. Everyone would be a bit too OOC.

So go ahead and vote again. It's an all new poll, just with no Prisoner of Love. I'll be back later today to check the results.