Setting: After Shugo Chara! Party

Character(s): Amu Hinamori, Yaya Yuiki, Utau Hoshina, Rima Mashiro, Tadase Hotori

We are Buono!: Bravo Bravo

"Whoo! Yeah! Go Utau!" Amu cheered as Utau's concert came to a close. She was among the thousands of people in the audience all clapping for the idol.

By her side was Yaya, who tugged on her arm and shouted so Amu could hear her, "Come on, Amu-chi! Let's hurry up and go backstage to meet Utau!"

"Eh? What about Tadase-kun, Rima, and all of our guardian characters?" Amu replied, confused, and looking around the crowd for them.

Yaya continued to drag Amu backstage as she replied, "Ugh, we'll never find them! Let's just go backstage! They'll find us eventually, Yaya hasn't seen Utau in ages!"

Soon enough, Amu and Yaya had presented their backstage passes to security and were navigating the backstage area to look for Utau's dressing room when Yaya stopped in her tracks and squealed.

Amu winced and covered her ears for a brief moment before she asked, "What-"

She never got to finish the sentence before Yaya exclaimed, "It's NEXT YOU! They're a new idol group, and they have their own drama! Yaya didn't know they were here! Were they the opening act? LOOK AT WHAT YOU MADE US MISS WITH YOUR PHONE CALL TO IKU-CHI, STUPID!"

Amu sputtered and said in defense, "Hey, it was Tadase-kun that-"

But she was abruptly cut off as Yaya lightly slapped her mouth and hit Amu's shoulder a few times in her excitement as she squealed, "Shhhh, Yaya has to get their autograph!" With that, Yaya pulled a little notebook from seemingly out of nowhere and ran over to the five-member idol group, leaving Amu in the dust.

Amu sighed and watched Yaya fan-girl over the idol group, and figuring that she'd take a while, went over to Utau's dressing room ahead of time and lightly knocked on the door and said, "Hey, it's Amu."

"Hold on, I'm not quite ready yet," came Utau's response through the door.

"Take your time," Amu replied. She then turned to lean near the door and waited, occasionally peering down the hallway to see if Yaya was done or if Tadase or Rima showed up.

As she waited, thoughts of Ikuto came to her mind, thanks to Yaya mentioning him. As far as she knew, he was on a journey to look for his father.

Comparing Ikuto after he was freed from Easter to the Ikuto she first met, he definitely seemed much more free now that he was away.

When she first heard about this dream of his, she had this gut feeling that it'd be flying away to other places.

But, he'd always been bogged down by Easter's hold.

Now, however, he was free to do as he pleased.

It took a lot of courage to be that free, and that made Amu want to cheer him on, and give him a round of applause just like that large stadium did just before for Utau.

She thought back to just before the concert, when Tadase had gotten a call from him, and put him on speaker so that she, Rima, and Yaya could talk, too.

There he was, talking about how he knew so little about the world; about how time flies by every day, and how he was focusing on the present, and not letting the hurtful past or the worrisome future bother him.

She felt oddly proud for Ikuto, and it made her want to give him a round of applause like the concert-goers had. Listening to his voice speaking of such things made her recall that serious look in his eye, and it made her heart unconsciously beat a little faster.

His motivation to go on this journey made Amu want to make more of an effort to achieve her own dreams.

Her thoughts were cut off when she heard her name being called, and she looked down the hallway to see Tadase and Rima running up with all of their guardian characters.

"There you are, finally!" Miki complained.

"Yeah, we've been looking all over for you~" Su added.

"Hmph! You shouldn't stand to have that peasant drag you around like a rag doll!" Kiseki proclaimed, referring to how Yaya had dragged Amu ahead of them to get into the concert as fast as possible after the delay from the phone call to Ikuto.

"I don't know, I thought the wild goose chase was fun!" Ran said.

"I didn't," Rima deadpanned.

"Amu-chan, are you alright?" Tadse asked, noticing how Amu had been deep in thought.

Amu nodded and said, "Yeah I was just thinking about Ikuto."

Tadase gave a reassuring smile and replied, "Don't worry too much about him, he's doing his best, he said so over the phone."

Amu nodded and couldn't help but give a small smile as she replied, "Yeah, I know, but... it just makes me wonder where he'll be a year from now, what he'll look like and how he's changed from the journey." She paused and then added, "I feel like he's given us a hint, something to think about while he tries to find himself. Like, we shouldn't be afraid of change, and should instead run towards it fearlessly with a big jump."

Dia nodded and said, "Of course."

What ensued was a strange brief moment of silence, which Kusukusu broke as she looked around and asked, "Where's Yaya?"

Pepe pointed down the hallway and replied, "Over there~"

At that moment, Yaya ran up to them and crashed into Rima, knocking the poor girl into Tadase, and making them both fall to the ground. Amu cringed, knowing Rima would be furious, as Yaya squealed, "OMG Amu-chi, Yaya can't believe Yaya just met NEXT YOU and got their autographs! Oh, Pepe-tan, you're here! Take a look at this, you guys! See, that's leader Hana-tan's autograph, and Rurika-tan's fancy autograph, Mayuyuyuyuyu's autograph, and Aoi-sama's autograph, and cute Aiko-chi's autograph!"

Before Yaya could ramble on any more, however, Tadase had pulled Rima up to her feet and the girl was glaring daggers at Yaya. Yaya abruptly stopped and gave a nervous chuckle as Rima murderously said, "You!"

Thought before anything else could happen, they heard someone clapping, and turned to see that Utau had opened her door and was wearing her casual clothes, and was leaning against the door. Il was floating near her, lazily clapping and saying, "Amazing, you guys could have your own television drama. But, just don't blow up the staff, ok?"

El floated over to them and added, "It's nice to see you~"

Amu sighed in relief and exclaimed, "Utau!"

Utau chuckled and stepped aside and said, "Come on in." As they filed in, Utau leaned over to Amu and whispered, "And what's this I hear about a phone call from Ikuto?"

Amu blushed and waved a hand in front of her face as she stuttered, "W-w-well, it's not what you think!"

Utau laughed and shut the door behind her as she asked Tadase, "So, what was it about?"

"Ah, it was just Ikuto-nii-san telling us that he was alright, and to take care of ourselves as well. He also told us that he was traveling around Europe." Tadase explained as he took a seat.

Utau nodded and said, "Yup, that's pretty much what he told me, too."

Il floated to Amu, and wiggled her eyebrows as she asked, "So, did Ikuto say anything else to you?"

Amu blushed and swatted Il away as she exclaimed, "Of course not!"

El floated up to Amu in Il's place and asked, "Do you miss him~?"

Amu, flustered, crossed her arms and replied stubbornly, "No, of course not!"

Tadase simply tilted his head and replied, "Well, sure you do."

Utau added casually, "Yeah, if Tadase and I do, then you definitely do."

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Amu asked. Utau shrugged in response, and Amu sighed before calming down and saying with a smile, "I miss him a little, but it's ok. Because where ever he is on his trip, he'll still be under the same sky as us, so I should cheer him on instead of being sad."

Rima blinked from her spot near the make-up table and said, "That's a nice way of putting it."

As they continued to talk, Amu kept this thought in the back of her head...

That even if she had dreams with no shape, what she should do depends on what is ahead from now.

As long as she continued on in her own way, she would be deserving of her own round of applause.

Just like Utau and Ikuto.