The end has finally come. T.T And right when I was used to writing it...

Well, all good stories must come to an end, right? :3 This was my most popular to date. Maybe I'll have more, maybe not. Either way, I'm glad to have finally completed this story.

Here we get to see a bit of character development from my newest OCs (even though I promised that I wouldn't USE OCs as often, but I really have planned out these two) Shotarou and Kishi, and we get to see what happens in the end to our favorite coupling.

:3 Thank you again for following my story. I'll be writing more soon, most definitely.

There are two options for the next story... Both will be Shugo Chara stories. One will be an OC one-shot (Sho and Kishi)... the other will form in arcs.

EPILOGUE:

~Amu's P.O.V~

Kishi and Shotaro "Sho" Tsukiyomi came into our lives on a snowy December 16th—two weeks after Ikuto's twenty-fifth birthday. Sho was practically a clone of his father, navy blue locks falling over his beautiful azure eyes. Kishi, in contrast to her older twin brother, had strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes, a complete mix between me and Ikuto's mother Souko.

Shortly after the twins were born, about six months later, Ikuto and I finally participated in Holy Matrimony. It was held outdoors, as Ikuto hates cramped places and is surprisingly less religious than I assumed. Utau sang at the wedding in a duet with Nagihiko. Believe it or not, the entire combination was unexpectedly magical. Summer romance in springtime—the time of year that Ikuto and I first met.

Once Ikuto and I got married, Utau and Kukai moved out of Ikuto's home and got their own apartment, saying that it was time he 'had his moments with his wife'.

Ikuto went back to work the following month, and the first time, he stayed away for a week. Then a month the next time, then two months… But he always came back and called me each and every day to make sure that I was safe, that the children were safe, and to tell me that he loved me.

A year and a half had passed since the wedding, and now it's almost Christmastime again. {A/N: Oh, look at that, it's Christmas in June!}

~Normal P.O.V~

The tiny pitter-patters of footsteps practically flew across the room and a tiny strawberry blonde haired girl with pigtails went flying onto the couch next to her mother. Amu then lifted the girl up and set her on her lap, holding her close.

"Dad said not to run in the house, Kishi." The equally tiny blue-haired boy that acted a bit TOO mature for his age stated, eyes deadlocked on his father's performance on television.

"Sho, you know that she has a lot of energy." Amu replied, giggling.

"That doesn't mean that she has to disobey Dad already." Kishi waited for him to turn before sticking her tongue out at him.

"And Daddy's not here yet anyways! And he'd understand!" Kishi looked at Amu, bouncing a bit on her lap as she was being held. "Right, mommy, right?"

"That's right, honey." She kissed her daughter on the forehead, and Kishi giggled, wrapping her tiny arms around Amu's neck a bit.

"It's Christmas Eve and Dad still hasn't even called, right…?" Sho whined.

"He's going to be here really soon." Just then there was a knock on the door, and the two twins' heads' shot up simultaneously. "That might be Daddy now!"

"DADDY!" Kishi beamed.

"Dad's home!" Sho and Kishi scrambled for the door, each trying to reach for the doorknob. "Let go, Kishi, I'M opening it!"

"No, you let go, I'M letting Daddy in!" Kishi pushed him aside and opened the door only for Sho to tackle her to the floor. Then both were lifted up by a man in a Santa suit simultaneously.

"Ho-ho-ho, what's all the fighting for? That's very naughty."

"SANTA?" Sho and Kishi beamed.

"That's right!"

"Y-You came really early this year!" Sho exclaimed.

"Ho-ho-ho, that's because your mother here gave me a little hint that the two of you were being very naughty while your father was away for work." Amu warmly smiled when he winked at her.

"I'm not being bad, Santa, promise!" Kishi replied. "Neither is Sho!"

"T-That's right, we were only playing! We would never do anything bad to make Mom upset, and we would never want to disobey Dad, honest!"

"All right, all right… I could never overlook two such wonderful children." Sho and Kishi beamed. "Now, go on upstairs and rest, it's pretty late."

"Aw, but-" They began in unison.

"Good children?"

"Night Mom, night Santa!" The twins dashed upstairs immediately. Amu took one look at 'Santa' and smirked.

"Well, ho-ho-ho, Santa Ikuto. You're pretty late tonight." He took off the hat and beard, shaking out his hair a bit.

"Heh, sorry I'm late. I was on my way home, but then I called in a favor and decided to surprise the kids. Miss me?" She kissed him.

"Too much." He grinned.

"And what would you like for Christmas this year, little girl?"

"I already got it." And they kissed again… and again… and again. Not a creature stirred all through the house, and even if one had, they were too entranced to care.

"CHRISTMAS PRESENTS!" Kishi and Sho dashed down the steps and practically leaped into the pile of gifts under the tree.

"Whoa, easy there, you two, those presents aren't going anywhere." Amu stated. Ikuto tapped Amu on the shoulder and then pointed back towards the kitchen. She followed him and then sat down on the counter. "What's wrong?"

"Amu, I think it's time we invested in moving into a new house."

"Why? This is a nice house."

"It's going to be too small, Amu. There's already you here, me, the twins… Sure, Utau and Kukai moved out, but it's just time to move on from this place."

"That's going to be too much work, even with the high payments from your job. I'm toppling being back in college and trying to take care of Sho and Kishi… Ikuto, we're not anywhere near the right situation for us to move into a bigger house."

"Then we'll wait until you finish up college in a few months."

"That's still not enough! We have to have money and plans and-"

"Well, uh, it could be a bit harder living here because of…" Amu paused when she heard small barks in the background.

"A puppy!" Kishi beamed. Amu peered into the room and saw the small brown speck climb onto her daughter's lap. Sho gently rubbed the puppy's back, smiling so much that he looked very much like his father.

"…You went and got them a puppy? A PUPPY, Ikuto? But you hate dogs! Hell, you're even a CAT, for god's sake!"

"I was just trying to make them happy, Amu."

"Why didn't you at least tell me you were planning on getting the twins a dog first?" Ikuto crossed his arms, invisible cat ears twitching.

"Because you would have said no."

"No, I WOULDN'T have!"

"MOMMY!" Kishi called out. Amu went running, and found the girl being licked to death by the new puppy. She had to admit, it was a touching scene… maybe she could get used to having this puppy around. Sho picked the puppy up and held it, cradling it in his arms.

"So, um… What are you going to name the new puppy, Sho?" Ikuto asked, wrapping an arm around Amu's shoulders.

"Um… Viola. I like that instrument a lot." Sho stated, rubbing the pup's head as she gently licked his fingers.

"B-B-But I wanted to name her! It's not fair! Why does Sho always get to have everything before me? He's older too!" Kishi burst into tears and Ikuto lifted her up off the ground, kissing her nose.

"Don't worry. Maybe daddy can get you your own puppy someday too." There was a sudden knock on the door and Amu went to answer it. In order, there stood Tadase, Yaya, Rima, Nagihiko, Utau and Kukai.

"Merry Christmas!" They chimed in unison. Yaya rushed past the group and practically glomped Amu.

"AMU-CHIIII~"

"W-Whoa! You guys actually made it!"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" Nagihiko replied, winking.

"This is one of the only times of the year that we can all come together." Tadase implied. "It was obvious we wouldn't miss Christmas."

"Auntie Utau, you came!" Ikuto set Kishi down and the infant dashed over to the pigtailed woman. Utau picked the girl up and cradled her in her arms before making her way over to Ikuto.

"Merry Christmas, little sister." Ikuto replied in English, which had been steadily improving, hugging her. "How was the flight back?"

"Long, very long."

Sho tugged on Utau's dress a bit. "Auntie Utau… Is America far?" Utau knelt down and ruffled the boy's hair a bit, smiling.

"Go there and tell me for yourself, Sho." Then Sho nodded and rejoined the group, taking a seat next to Kukai.

"Bro, it's just crazy how much Sho looks like you!" Kukai ruffled Sho's hair a little bit rougher than Utau had, causing the blue-haired boy to whine painfully.

"Kukai, stop, you're hurting him!" Yaya exclaimed.

"Don't call me 'Bro', got it?" Kishi broke away from Utau and then ran through the halls again, laughing. "Kishi, no running in the house, you'll hurt yourself!"

There was the sound of a crash, and Amu froze up. "DON'T WORRY! I'M OKAY!" Then there was more running. Ikuto sighed.

"Such a tomboy… My poor little girl is too energetic, even for me…"

"Look at it this way! She'd make a really great football player!" Kukai said with two thumbs up in the air for 'the most ultimate sigh of promise'. Rima and Nagihiko had sweat-dropped simultaneously.

"That… isn't much of a good thing, ya know, given how much she crashes..."

"Why in the world would I take a 'compliment' from Kukai anyways?"

"HEY!" Kukai hissed. "It was a good compliment!"

Rima took a sip of her hot chocolate, all seriousness on her cute face. "Don't worry too much about Kishi running into stuff, Ikuto. She's just clumsy, like Amu."

"HEY!" Amu exclaimed.

"How adorable~" Tadase beamed. {A/N: Heh. One of my beta readers said that this made it seem like Tadase had a crush on Kishi. 0_0 But I said "NO. NOOOOOO!"}

~Amu's P.O.V~

Not much had changed between any of us, though we all walked along a vast margin of pathways in our lives. In a matter of years, we had taken the first few steps to the remainder of our lives, and through these steps, we gained so much more.

"Sho, Kishi, look this way!" Ikuto called, causing the two twins to look up from their meals in unison. Then Ikuto quickly snapped a picture of the two with his camera. "Perfect! Good job, my little prodigies!"

"Daddy, what's a prodigy?" Kishi whined.

"Ikuto, you're acting like Amu…" Rima mumbled.

"Um, more like my dad." I stated. Ikuto just laughed.

Each experience that I've shared with Ikuto and my children will help me to grow even more—to appreciate change. HE will continue to help me to change. Even now, I owe Utau and Kukai for setting me up on that blind date… for Yaya pulling all the strings behind the date… for Nagihiko and Rima pushing me closer to him with their advice… for Tadase letting go of me.

"Everyone, look this way!" Ikuto called, ready to snap another picture. I lifted Kishi up and held her in my arms. She just hugged me, giggling. "Perfect, Amu, Kishi." He took a quick picture. "Okay, now move inward, all of you."

"Ikuto, come ON…" Utau mumbled.

"Just trust me, Utau~!" Ikuto replied.

"Wow. You're slowly but surely losing your calm and collected demeanor…" Nagihiko stated.

"Well… I have a reason to now." Ikuto smiled again.

Kukai wrapped an arm around Utau's shoulders and kissed her forehead. Nagihiko wrapped his arms around Rima's waist, and Tadase just stood a bit further off, Kukai wrapping his other arm around his shoulder. Sho stood in front, holding Viola, who then leapt out of his arms and scrambled for his plate of food on the small table.

"Viola, NO! That's MY food!" As Sho was running off to stop the puppy, Ikuto had snapped the picture. Kishi burst into laughter during the event and was pointing at her older brother. I giggled at the reaction on Ikuto's face.

I don't regret what I've chosen—who I've chosen. I never will. Meeting Ikuto that day opened my eyes to a whole new world, some new passions… he showed me something that I can truly live for. Because of him, I can understand what I want, who I want to be… And the slowly distance between us.

~Thank you for your love~

So goes the glory, and the distance. ^_^ The end.