• TOKYO MEWMEW
    Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew or any of its characters.

    Chapter One: Ichigo, Alone

    Ichigo woke up cold, sweaty, and sick. Stumbling out of bed, she made a dash for the bathroom, kneeling over the toilet just in time to throw up. Her limbs were shaking. She reached up unsteadily for the counter top, and with a great deal of effort, pulled herself up off the ground. She turned on the faucet and started to splash cold water on her face. It had happened again. She’d had the dream again.

    It was a dream that never changed. Except perhaps that it became more horrifying to witness each night it occurred.

    It had been two years since the final battle – the one that had left her weak, alone, and broken-hearted. After Deep Blue had killed Kisshu, and Deep Blue and Aoyama-kun had begun their ferocious, internal struggle, Ichigo had tried her hardest to destroy Deep Blue, while also sparing Aoyama-kun’s life. In the dream, she summoned her Strawberry Bell the same as she had in the real battle. Then, using the Full Power of the Mews combined, she had blasted Deep Blue with enough power to destroy him. When the blast dissipated, she’d seen Aoyama-kun’s body lying on the ground, lifeless.

    Ichigo squeezed her eyes shut as the most horrible part of the dream rushed over her. She’d kissed Aoyama-kun, kissed him with every part of her soul. The Mew Aqua of her essence had been powerful enough to restore Tokyo to a blossoming paradise, powerful enough even to bring all three aliens – Pie, Tart, and Kisshu – back to life.

    But it hadn’t been enough. Not nearly enough. Aoyama-kun didn’t wake up.

    Ichigo felt the unwanted tears sliding down her cheeks again. And she was still nauseas. Up until the very last moment, the dream was accurate with reality. In the battle two years ago, she hadn’t been able to save him. Her love. Aoyama-kun. The aliens had helped remove the Mews and Aoyama-kun’s body from the spacecraft.

    Ichigo especially remembered Kisshu’s expression when he’d woken and seen Ichigo sobbing over Aoyama-kun’s still body. Teleporting over, he’d stared at Ichigo as if he’d never seen anything more terrible and sad in his life. Usually, Ichigo would’ve shouted at him to go away. But this time, she let it go, because all that mattered then was that she knew she’d lost the battle. Even though Deep Blue had been defeated, she felt as though she’d failed, as both a Mew Mew and as Aoyama-kun’s love.

    Then, in the last seconds of the dream, as Ichigo saw Kisshu’s expression – it made her start a little, so shocked was she by its depth of pain – the body morphed, like a fast-forward tape of something rotting, back into Deep Blue. The carcass opened its icy blue eyes, glazed over with evil insanity, and then the mouth full of broken teeth began laughing. Ichigo screamed, and in that instant, she always woke up, with the last remnants of that horrible face floating in front of her in the darkness. Sometimes, like tonight, she would run to the bathroom to throw up. Other times, she could do no more than curl up into a tiny ball, shivering underneath the covers, and grope around her nightstand for Masha, so she could hold him against her like a stuffed animal and gain some small comfort from his soft cooing.

    Her limbs still weak, Ichigo crawled back into bed. She curled up in the fetal position, and closed her eyes. But the terrible face floated up beneath her eyelids, and she opened her eyes with a snap, a small whimper leaving her lips. She reached out one arm and felt around for her cell phone. Then, she suddenly stopped. She remembered that Masha was with Ryou getting a tune-up tonight. The Mews hadn’t fought in two years, but Ryou had thought it best for Ichigo to keep Masha with her just in case of an new, unexpected threat. However, tonight, Ichigo was alone, and the thought sent her heart racing as she tried not to replay her dream, like the reel of a horror movie, in front of her eyes again.

    It didn’t work. The laugh echoed in her ears. She curled up even tighter, gripping her blanket tight between her fists. Her own pitiful voice whispered into the night.

    “Go away…just go away…”

    Then, one part of the dream returned to her – the only part that gave her any comfort, any sense of peace at all. It was the look on Kisshu’s face when he’d seen her in pain. It was as if...as if, if he’d been able to, he would have taken her into his arms, and then, stroking her mop of pink hair, whispered to her that everything would be all right, and that he would take care of her.

    All that…just from one look. That’s what she’d felt for a brief moment. But two years ago, she had turned away from him, and in the dream, Aoyama-kun’s body transformed at that moment into Deep Blue. But the thought of Kisshu – of the way he’d wanted to comfort her, of the way that he had, after all, thought of nothing but her the whole time they’d been pointlessly fighting each other – made it possible for her heart to stop racing.

    “Kisshu…Kisshu…”

    Whispering his name, very quietly into the night, she was able to drift off to sleep again.

    Chapter Two: It’s Over Between Us

    “Whew! Wow, look how much money I made today!” Pudding was hopping up and down in front of the other four Mews, who were squeezed on a park bench together the following afternoon. She shook the coins around in the large top hat she carried, looking as excited as a monkey with a banana pie.

    Ichigo looked at her friends seated beside her; Mint, looking extremely irritated at being squished, had her nose in the hair and her hands folded primly in her lap; Lettuce was smiling serenely at Pudding as the little blonde-haired girl danced around with her earnings; and cool-headed, beautiful Zakuro was gazing up at the sky, watching the clouds float by abstractly and humming quietly to herself. Ichigo had been lost in thought, watching passively as Pudding did her usual routine for the crowd of admiring spectators.

    “Well? How about we all go out to eat? I’ll buy!” Pudding said, skipping circles around the bench happily.

    Zakuro said, “No, Pudding – you keep that money for your brothers and sisters. I’ll buy.”

    “Wait! I’ll do it!” Mint said, leaping at any excuse to impress her idol. “And we’ll go somewhere really nice too!”

    “Maybe we should invite Keiichiro-san and Shirogane-san too?” Lettuce asked.

    Mint looked irritated again. “Well…I guess. If you must.”

    Lettuce sprang up. “I’ll just run over to Café Mew Mew and ask. Ichigo, do you want to come?”

    “Oh…okay,” Ichigo said, smiling and getting up to join her. The two of them waved goodbye to the others and began walking away.

    After a moment of quiet, Lettuce asked timidly, “Um, I was wondering…”

    “What is it, Lettuce?”

    “Are you still having nightmares?”

    Ichigo sighed, and then nodded unhappily. Lettuce looked sympathetic.

    “I’m sorry, Ichigo. You know, you can call me if you need to talk. I mean, I know that must be really awful for you.”

    Ichigo laughed uneasily, trying not to make a big deal out of it. “No, it’s okay, really! I’m doing okay! The nightmares don’t even come that often now anyway.”

    Lettuce smiled. “Well, that’s a good thing.”

    “Yup.” Ichigo smiled, but she could feel it was a strain. By now they were strolling up the walkway to Café Mew Mew. Lettuce reached to open the door.

    When she pulled it open, they were met with the smells of fruit, bread, and any number of delicious baked goods, which were Keiichiro’s specialty. Just as they walked in through the doorway, Ryou walked around the corner.

    He looked at them in mild surprise. “Hey. What are you two doing here?”

    Lettuce spoke for them. “We – I mean to say, the Mews – were wondering if you and Keiichiro-san would like to join us for dinner? Mint said she was paying.”

    Ryou laughed. “Well, in that case, I guess I can’t refuse – if this isn’t the time to get the most expensive meal I can think of, then I don’t know when is.” He looked back over his shoulder and called, “Hey, Akasaka! Let’s go eat!”

    Keiichiro appeared from inside the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. “Good idea, I’m starving,” he agreed, “Oh, and with the Mews too? What a pleasure.”

    Lettuce, as usual, looked embarrassed. Ichigo gave another smile that felt too tight and led the way out. The rest of them followed, Keiichiro closing the door behind them.

    Ichigo’s mind wandered as the four of them walked back to the park. It still felt so strange to be doing something as normal as a social gathering with Ryou, Keiichiro, and the rest of the Mews, instead of fighting some dreaded evil. They hadn’t had to turn into their Mew forms since the final battle, and Ichigo was glad for that. She was sure that she would be dreadful now if she tried to use her Strawberry Bell. But more importantly, having to fight again in her Mew form would mean she could fail again, like she failed in saving Aoyama-kun.

    Lettuce leaned in close to Ichigo and whispered, “Do you ever think about them, Ichigo?”

    “Who?”

    “Um…well, Kish and Tart, uh, Pie?”

    Ichigo grinned. “I’ll bet you still are. Pie was staring at you right before they got into the ship, you know.”

    Lettuce’s eyes widened and she suddenly became extremely flustered. “W-what? He was?” she said incredulously.

    “Yup!” Ichigo said. Lettuce looked down at the ground, twisting her hands together nervously.

    “Do…do you ever think that…maybe they’ll…come back?” she asked.

    Ichigo felt her stomach give a surprising lurch at the thought. The aliens, come back? That would be…well, she didn’t know how that would be. They hadn’t exactly parted on bad terms, but Ichigo had been so heartbroken that she hadn’t really said goodbye to any of them. Though she had felt Kisshu looking at her as Ryou gave Pie the last bit of Mew Aqua. Beside them, Pudding had been crying into Tart’s shoulder, and even Tart had forgotten his pride and was sniveling a little.

    Ichigo hadn’t looked at Kisshu. She knew that his eyes, gold in color and unusually bright, would’ve been filled with an emotion she wasn’t strong enough to handle then. Not with the tragedy that had just ripped her apart. She had turned away from him. Then, with Pudding gripping Tart’s shoulders for as long as she could get away with, the three aliens finally teleported into the ship, and flew away.

    “Um, Ichigo?”

    She started. “Oh, I’m sorry Lettuce. What did you just say?”

    Lettuce looked embarrassed again. “I was just wondering if…well, if Kisshu said anything to you before he left?”

    Ichigo shut her eyes tight. Lettuce gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

    “Oh, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have asked, please forgive-”

    “Don’t worry about it.” Ichigo’s smile was barely there now. “He did, actually. You know him, he couldn’t have left without opening his mouth at least once.”

    “Oh…” Lettuce lowered her hand. “Um…was it something…bad?”

    Ichigo shook her head. “Not at all.”

    Lettuce waited for a moment, then decided she didn’t want to bother Ichigo anymore, and let the subject drop. Ichigo was relieved. She hadn’t told anyone what Kisshu had said to her, right before he teleported away.

    She’d been facing away from him, staring at nothing, feeling next to nothing. Then he was standing somewhere close behind her. She heard him say her name.

    “Hey, neko-chan.”

    Ichigo didn’t turn around. She heard him take a step closer.

    “Ichigo…”

    Ichigo shut her eyes tight, willing him to go away before she started crying again. She felt him come up right behind her.

    “Ichigo, I…well, we’re going to go home and save our planet with the Mew Aqua. So I guess that means it’s over between us.”

    Normally Ichigo would’ve turned around and tried to smack him. But even though she’d been his enemy for months, she’d come to understand him in a way, and one thing that he’d proven in the last battle was that he had indeed come to feel some semblance of genuine affection toward her. To what degree, she didn’t know. She clenched her fists by her sides.

    Then she felt Kisshu’s breath very softly on the back of her neck. Then, as she stiffened, he leaned in very slightly, and said quietly;

    “Maybe someday I’ll be yours in the same way that you are mine. Bye bye, neko-chan.”

    Ichigo was too slow in whirling around to face him – he’d teleported away. Feeling confused and even more anguished, she looked up at the ship, but she couldn’t see into the windows. Then, the spacecraft lifted off, and, gathering speed quickly, left Earth for good. With it, went the three aliens who had played such a part in changing her life.

    Ichigo returned to the present when Pudding bounced up to the four of them, still waving around her bag of cash. Shoving her memories aside, Ichigo concentrated on summoning up the brightest fake smile she could. All she could do now was get though each day. Though she could live with that with her friends nearby. Even though she couldn’t share everything with them, it was comfort enough to know that the Mew Mews would always been close as sisters. And Ryou and Keiichiro were like their two older brothers.

    As Pudding bounced around them, Mint and Zakuro led the way, followed by Ryou and Keiichiro, with Lettuce and Ichigo bringing up the rear. The sun was setting. Ichigo glanced up at the sky. She thought for a moment, that if she concentrated, she could almost imagine the space ship soaring back down through the clouds.

    Chapter Three: I Love You Either Way

    Under the dark cover of the night, Kisshu slipped quietly into his room and closed the door behind him without a sound. Then, groaning a little, his placed his hand over the small, glass globe on the stand by the door. Immediately, the room was flooded with light, which was projected by the globe.

    Leaning against the door, Kisshu gripped the frame and tried to keep from letting his legs give out. Sweat and red dirt was smeared across his face – his hair, neck, and chest were wet with perspiration. There were a few tears in his pants. And in his side – a large tatter of his shirt fell away, revealing an oozing wound he’d gotten from his now slain opponent.

    Panting heavily, he pushed off from the door and stumbled a little. He shoved his bangs impatiently away from his eyes. As he walked unsteadily across the room to open the window, he stripped off the ruined shirt and tossed it onto the floor. He winced as he stretched out his arm to touch the window. The glass melted away at his touch and a cool breeze blew in. He sighed, standing there for a moment and breathing the air that now felt so temperate, and that held the scent of flourishing life.

    Since bringing back the Mew Aqua, his planet had grown to become as beautiful as the planet Earth – no, even more so. His people didn’t pollute as the humans did – their technology didn’t do any harm to their environment. For two years, his family and friends, as well as everyone else on the planet, had lived peacefully – well fed, well clothed, everyone sleeping in a warm bed and waking up to a bright sun and the smell of the flowers outside.

    Never had Kisshu been surrounded by such beauty and prosperity. However, this jewel in the galaxy had become a target for other aliens, and as Kisshu, Pie, and Tart had been the ones to bring salvation to the planet, they had been appointed commanders of the army. Kisshu was the leader, closely flanked by Pie, with Tart growing fast as an equally skilled warrior and leader.

    Coming in from a battle, Kisshu was wounded more than normal. He knew perfectly well why. The distraction hadn’t left his mind once – not even for a day – since leaving Earth. Some days he thought about her more than others, but he never forgot completely. And even though he didn’t dream, he spent plenty of time thinking of what he would’ve done differently if he’d been able to go back and talk to her again.

    He would’ve taken Ichigo into his arms. He would’ve called her by his beloved pet name, “neko-chan”, and he even though he would’ve wanted to tease her like he always did, he would’ve instead kept his smart mouth shut and just held her, petting her fluffy pink hair and letting her cry for his dead rival, Aoyama-kun. Even though he should’ve been glad that Aoyama-kun was gone, Ichigo’s pain had been almost unbearable to see. He had almost been angry at the dead Earth boy for making his Ichigo so sad.

    Instead, Kisshu had left, and become famous on this his adopted home planet. He, Pie, and Tart were global heroes. They lived well, and had as many comforts as they had responsibilities. But it was not enough for them.

    The only thing Kisshu wanted was Ichigo. And he knew that Tart had developed a badly-masked affection for Pudding, the little yellow monkey girl. He was sure that part of Tart’s maturing into a leader had been because he had to try and not let him missing her distract him, in the same way Kisshu had to do with Ichigo. As for Pie…though he was the most impassive of all, there had been moments where Kisshu suspected he’d felt something for the green one - Lettuce, with the glasses. Pie had never verbally confirmed this, but Kisshu thought he was right.

    Letting out another groan, Kisshu stepped through a doorway in the wall, and again lit the room with the globe. The soft golden glow illuminated a still pool of water, which steamed enticingly. Smiling a little, Kisshu finished stripping and slid into the water. Immediately, the tension in his muscles began to relax, and even though his wound stung slightly, it felt incredibly good. He let his head sink into the water, unbinding his hair from the ties in front of his ears. Like a cloud of green seaweed, he let his hair float gently in the water, washing away the grime and sweat of the battle. Finally, he resurfaced again, shaking the water out of his eyes and clearing his sopping hair from his eyes.

    He leaned back against the side of the pool, his thoughts drifting as lazily as the water. Ichigo…he thought back to her sweet face, her red hair tied up in two tails. And then as Mew Ichigo…those little pointed black ears, pink hair, and that long tail with the big red bow and bell on the end, that made her look like a wrapped present. His little kitty-cat, always scowling at him when he released a Chimera Animal on her and the other Mews…

    He laughed a little at that, and grinned to himself. “I love you either way, neko-chan, as a Mew or a normal girl.”

    A noise behind him. Kisshu stiffened. Then…

    “Whheeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

    With a huge splash, Tart hurtled over Kisshu’s head into the water. Sputtering furiously, Kisshu teleported over to Tart and hit him over the head, yelling, “What do you think you’re doing, you little brat!”

    “Hey, lemme go, Kish! I was just having some fun! Lighten up, will ya?”

    Pie teleported into the room as well, already cleaned up from the battle and looking serious as usual, or perhaps even more so. Kisshu turned away from Tart in disgust, and while Tart began paddling around the small pool, Kisshu went over to the side and leaned over, addressing Pie.

    Pie said, “There were survivors, Kisshu. Some of the enemy escaped.”

    Kisshu said, “We can’t always get them all. But I think we gave them a good enough fight to keep them too scared to come back.”

    Pie said calmly, “I disagree. They will simply try a different tactic.”

    Kisshu raised an eyebrow. “Did you have something in mind?”

    Pie paused. Kisshu noted a change in the air. Suddenly, he realized that Pie was about to say something very serious. Tart picked up on it as well, and he stopped splashing around in the water.

    Pie duly noted that they were both paying attention, and said, “I’ve just finished interrogating one of our captives. Apparently, their race has an entire line of technology based entirely on the usage of the blood of their enemies.”

    Tart said, “Eww.”

    Kisshu shrugged. “So?”

    “So,” Pie continued, “one of these such machines is capable of reading someone’s blood, meaning, deducing images from the imprint of the blood, thereby giving the viewer a look into that someone’s mind.”

    “What are the pictures of?” Tart asked.

    “Anything that someone has seen. A memory. And anything that someone feels particularly strong about shows up more clearly than any other image.”

    Kisshu frowned. Something was starting to click. “Hmm…so if they had some of our blood…because we were all wounded…”

    “…they would have a huge advantage over us,” Pie finished. Tart looked shocked.

    “B-but that means…can they see…?”

    The realization hit Kisshu harder than a full blow of Strawberry Bell. “Ichigo!” he cried, straightening up, as traces of his usual languid manner gone.

    “Pudding-san!” Tart cried.

    Pie said nothing.

    “You don’t mean,” Tart said, “that they’d go and try to hurt the Mews to get at us?”

    “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Pie looked at his two comrades. Tart looked on the verge of panic. Kisshu could feel something building up in him very fast. Something explosive.

    “If they…if they even touch her…” he snarled, his golden eyes flashing. He hurtled himself out of the pool and into his room to get dressed. “Can we confirm your theory, Pie?”

    “We don’t need to. They did it for us.”

    Kisshu paused while throwing on his shirt. “What?”

    Pie teleported into the room, closely followed by Tart, who had wrapped himself up in a towel.

    “What do you mean by that, Pie?” Tart asked.

    Maintaining his stony calm, Pie said, “After the captive confessed the technology to me, we received a message from the enemy. It said they were heading for Earth to find the group called the Mew Mews, and if we didn’t surrender ourselves as well as our planet to them, they’ll kill the Mews and any other human that gets in the way.”