I AM THE LIZARD QUEEN!

No, I'm not. I lied =(

BUT I AM SO ANGRY RIGHT NOW. Do you know why I'm so angry? Because one of my favorite authors - vampgirl8 - HAS HAD HER WORK PLAGIARIZED!

What? SAY IT AIN'T SO! But alas, it is true, my minions! I was so angry when I found her fabulicious work, 'Return of the Cat Boy', completely replicated by another fanfiction 'author'! (I won't say who, but it's under the exact same title. Kudos to you, fail plagiarizer!)

AUTHOR? I THINK NOT! And what's more is that some people actually praised this person for 'their' work! SHAME ON YOU, SHUGO CHARA FANFICTIONERS! You have let me down. I shall now go and cry in a corner and post this crappy update for you to read =(

"Ikuto, Ikuto... please... get up..."

I shook his shoulders gently, my mind still whirling from the night before. I'd allowed him... that pervert... to kiss me. I subconsciously traced my fingers over my lips as I sat there, limp. Did this mean I loved him? Couldn't be. I hadn't seen him for ten years. Maybe it was that very thought - no, it was just my body reacting. In a bad, bad way. I shook my head angrily, trying to rid myself of anything.

"Stupid Amu," I scolded myself, "dumb, idiotic, pig-brain. He won't remember – look at him, half-dead..."

Dead.

I cried out in frustration. This was not happening. Anything I said, anything I did would lead me back to him...

...and his condition.

His sleep right now looked anything but peaceful. His eyes where clamped shut, his whole face frozen in a painful grimace. Every now and then he would let out an agonized grunt and his whole body would freeze up before relaxing again.

Is this how he feels every hour, every minute of his current life? I wondered. Every moment, does he feel pain?

Tears welled up in my eyes again at the thought. A loud groan resonated from beneath me as the blue-haired man's eyes flickered open. I froze. His dark cerulean orbs seemed to glow in the darkness, wearily examining his surroundings before settling up at me.

"Shit. Not again," he muttered to himself, pushing his body up against the wall next to me. What was he talking about?

"Ikuto?" I whispered through cracked lips. He just sat there, staring at his hands.

I tried again. "Tsukiyomi Ikuto?"

Still refusing to look at me, he started to run his fingers along the hard ground. He seemed to be looking for something hidden in the dust. I watched him anxiously. His eyes held a look or reminiscence, remembering a thing of the past as he wearily searched away. Finally he found it, gently picking the object up and gazing at it longingly.

I edged closer, squinting, trying to see what it was. It looked like part of a shell, a dull white with a large black cat-like splodge on it. My breath caught in my throat.

Cat?

Instinctively I reached out and touched Ikuto's arm. He jerked abruptly, looking up at me.

"That was his egg, wasn't it?" I whispered, gazing into his lost eyes. "It was Yoru's egg. Your egg."

I suddenly felt stupid. Here I was in what could pass as a dungeon, talking to a fully grown man like a mother would a child. But he just continued to look at me in shock, blue eyes widening slightly.

"You're that girl," he whispered in a strangled voice, some colour returning into his pale features. "The one I'm supposed to..."

He drifted off, his gaze wandering over to my hair. His hand reached out, and I let him run his fingers through my pink locks.

"Your hair, it's pink... just like hers..."

This Ikuto was different. Something was terribly, terribly wrong with him. It was like his whole brain had rebooted and taken on a whole new character. He was too innocent and far, far too weak. Every movement was slow and longing, and he looked as if he were in a dream. Gently pushing him away I spoke.

"Ikuto, it's me, Amu, remember?"

He stared at me blankly.

"Do you remember me? Hinamori Amu, age twelve? Ten years ago?"

My heart was racing now, the blood roaring in my ears.

"No," he answered simply, his old personality seemingly kicking back in again as he turned away again and ran his hand through his hair. "I can't."

"What?"

"Too long," he murmured. "Don't care."

"What?"

Silence. Something inside me snapped. I grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around to face me, eyes blazing.

"Dammit, Ikuto! Can't you at least try? You've been down here for ten years! Don't you care? Don't you care about what they've done to you, how much you've suffered? How much we – the ones who care about you – have missed you? You have a sister, Ikuto, a sister for Christ's sake. I'm here to rescue you, so you'd better start remembering! My ass too long!"

"I know," he said softly, "I know I should care, should remember. But I can't. They've done something to me. No matter how hard I try..."

He shook his head.

"I only know that you weren't supposed to come here," he continued. "That's all. You have to get out of here before they get you. I think I promised you that, before I gave in."

"You said you loved me."

He gave me a confused look. "What?"

"Before you left, before I told you I hated you... you told me you loved me."

Ikuto suddenly looked as if someone had ripped out his heart and shoved several sharp needles in it.

"Oh," was all he said. I mentally kicked myself. He'd obviously been blocking out that moment up to then. I cleared my throat, pushing onwards.

"So, maybe if would help if I... did something to jog your memory a little."

Refusing eye contact he raised his eyebrows.

"This isn't Sleeping Beauty, you do realize?"

I almost laughed in disbelief. He couldn't remember me, but he could remember something as old as that?

"You... you shouldn't be here," he continued, fingers still tracing around in the dirt. "These people... they'll... they'll..."

He trailed off, eyes slowly closing. Panicking I grabbed his shoulders. "C'mon, Ikuto, stay with me... Ikuto!"

His eyes fluttered open once more, still with that dull gaze. I threw my arms around him. What have they done to you, Ikuto? Why is this happening? Tears rolled down my cheeks, dripping onto his already damp shirt.

"I can't think, Amu. My body, it feels all... hazy," whispered Ikuto into my ear. I could feel his heart steadily beginning to slow in his chest

"I know, I know."

"Is this what it feels like, Amu? Is this what you feel, when you're about to die?"

I found myself struggling to breathe.

"You're not going to die," I managed to choke out. "Everything's going to be fine, okay? I'm here now."

Silence, then a small, "okay," fell from his lips as his whole body relaxed beneath me. He was out cold. Unravelling my body from his I wiped the tears from my eyes. Did you hear that, a small part of me was saying, everything's going to be fine. With trembling fingers I reached for my ear, searching for a signal. Stay strong, keep it together, Amu. Don't give up ye-

"Amu?"

"U-Utau!" Sweat dripped down my forehead.

"Oh, thank God you're okay! I've been worried sick all night. Where are you, is everything all right?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. Listen – I've found Ikuto, we're in the basement."

"..."

"Utau?"

"... Sorry, I just wasn't... is he... is my brother...?

"He's unconscious right now. We spoke earlier and..." I glanced over to his still body before continuing in a shaky voice, "... he doesn't seem to remember anything from before he was taken in."

More silence on the other line. I could hear a male's voice in the background.

"Utau!"

"Oh gosh, s-sorry Amu. So you say he can't remember... are you sure? Is there anything there at all? Have they g-given him anything?"

Relief washed over me. Seemed like I wasn't the only one with a heart problem.

"I-I think they might have injected him with something, not sure. He's not quite... quite..."

"Oh God," she said in a whisper.

"Utau? Are you-?" Muffled voices and the sound of rustling cut me off before a loud voice shouted into my ear. I jolted upright.

"AMU? IS THAT YOU? UTAU CAN'T TALK RIGHT NOW SHE'S –"

More voices and rustling. I looked over at Ikuto once again. His head had slipped onto his knees, his breathing ragged. A grunt, a groan. Silence.

"SORRY ABOUT THAT. THIS IS KUUKAI. UTAU'S HAVING A BREAKDOWN RIGHT NOW SO I'LL BE TAKING OVER FOR A BIT."

I felt myself to grin despite the situation.

"...you don't have to yell, Kuukai."

"OH, RIGHT – I mean, is this better?"

"Yeah, yeah. Kuukai – what's wrong with Utau?"

"Uh, seems she's not handling the situation very well – OUCH."

A girl shrieking and a book being thrown.

"Uh, yeah. Look, Amu, she's just told me she needs you to check for any... markings? Scars? Like, the ones you get where needles are injected. She says Easter wouldn't be caring for as where they jab him, as long as they got it in."

I felt my face go red.

"What, you mean...?"

"Just do it, Amu." Kuukai's voice had suddenly become serious, his voice dropping as if to only let me hear what he was saying. I kept quiet, allowing him to continue.

"Utau... she's taken this Easter business really hard. I mean, they have her brother. I know you had something going on with Ikuto when we were younger – all the Guardians knew it. I'm not sure if it was a like or love relationship, but you must feel the same as what Utau's feeling right now."

He paused

"I'm her boyfriend," he said softly. "I'm supposed to be looking out for her. I don't want her to get hurt because of all this. So can you promise me, Amu? Promise me you and Ikuto will make it out of this alive?"

I felt my face get even redder before giving a slow nod.

"Yeah, I promise."

"Good. Now go feel him up!"

...Just like Kuukai to end a conversation with a sexual innuendo. I turned to face Ikuto who'd already come round and was staring at me with a blank look. I sighed and crawled over to him. Looking him straight in the eye I brushed his dark locks from his face and gave him a serious look.

Ikuto raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Aren't you hungry... at all?"

"No."

"Good. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm going to have to undress you."

If you are reading this, -Fairytale Maker-, I suggest you take down your story right this instance and maybe, just MAYBE, I will forgive you.