Hey, everyone! This is the first thing I write, so don't have high expectations.

It's an Ichigo and Ryou story, named Till the Moment Your Eyes Open (duh, I put it in the Ryou/Ichigo category!). I plan this to be all from Ichigo's perspective, her feelings and her thoughts about Masaya and Ryou as her life changes quite a bit (the words in italic are her thoughts). I chose this way of writing for this story, although the omniscient perspective was very tempting, because I think one can only see things from his own point of view. You can't just take the roof of another house and look at what other people are doing or get in their heads and see their thoughts. You can only guess what they are thinking and try to decode the meaning of their actions, and you may succeed or not. Anyway, I want to post a story, not talk about me. I know I just did so I'm going to stop now. :D

I don't know how many chapters it will have. It depends of many things, so I'll decide while writing it. And another thing: the first chapters won't (probably) be very happy, but the atmosphere will lighten up later; Ryou won't be physically present in the first chapters.

Oh yeah, I have to make a disclaimer, don't I? So…I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew. And now, on with the story:

Chapter one: Tormented

Flashback:

"You are being selfish, Ichigo! Have you ever considered moving with me?"

There were a few moments of silence. She was stunned. She actually never thought of that. Not even for a moment. It just didn't cross her mind. Well, I am slow sometimes, but…wait! Why am I even thinking about this? I would never want to leave this place! I-

She was abruptly interrupted by his voice:

"Of course you didn't! You always expect everything from me: Hey, I'm sorry I'm late and I made you wait for 2 hours! Hey, Blue Knight, thanks for almost getting killed for me! Hey, Aoyama, why don't you stay here with me instead of going to school in England and be a looser in Tokyo! Arghh! Why do I always be the one who does something for this relationship?

"But you're not the only one who does some-"

"Really? Than show me!"

End of flashback

Now she was sitting in her room, lying on the bed. Her face was still a little wet from all the crying. After that talk with Masaya, or better fight with Masaya, she ran to her house and

thanked god there was no one home to see her like that. Getting her parents worried and asking her questions was the last thing she wanted. She cried till she could no more and now, that she was a little calmer, she was trying to find a solution. But nothing seemed to work. Whatever she would think of, she had to let go of something. It was either Masaya or everyone else. Did I ever have such a hard decision to make? How in the world did I come to this?

So she took a minute to think about it. Well, it all started when she was 14: the Mew Mew Project, where she was dragged by the stupid Ryou Shirogane and the Masaya thing. Her life was beautiful then, even if she had to save the world, and go to school, and work at the café, and make time for Masaya, and make time for her friends, and a little time for her parents and deal with the cat genes and that total jerk boss of hers, Shirogane. And…she felt like something was missing…Hmm…food? Ne, she got plenty from the café. And not just any food, but food made by Keiichiro, who was the best cook ever! So what was she missing? Well, let's see…to live you need to breath, eat, drink water and…SLEEP! Oh, yeah, that was it! Sleep! With all the other things going on, she didn't get a lot of sleep at night, but not to worry, cause she would recover that during classes, when the teacher didn't caught her. Because when she was caught, it wasn't very nice. She got detention and that meant she was going to be late to work, and as she almost always felt asleep, almost every day she got detention, and she was almost everyday late for work. It was like a sick circle and she couldn't get out.

Anyway, at work was the real punishment, the devil himself disguised as a person, Ryou Shirogane! He was always there, waiting for her to be late so he could have his daily fun and torture her, hang her in a fork and put her in the fire. Well, actually it wasn't that bad, but he was so not giving her the chance to breed. Or live. If he could, he would probably keep her tide up in the café to do more work and he would sit there and watch her suffering and only then he would be satisfied. Ah! She was going to do something to him someday. Like…put an add in a newspaper with a photo, that said "beautiful, rich, single", so when he would get out on the street a bunch of girls would chase him all over the town. Yeah, that sounded good. She laughed at the thought. Wait, what am I doing? Thinking about that idiot when I have important things to think of. If he wasn't the leader of the Mew Mew's he would be so dead by now! Mew Mew's …

She went silent again, as her thought ran to the time when the Mew Project was still going. She had a lot of fun with the girls and they remained really good friends, even tough the whole thing was over a year ago, after two years of fighting. When the aliens left the planet, she thought her life would get event better. She still worked at the café, with all the girls. It was a surprise Zakuro stayed with them in the small café, when she could be traveling around the world and be famous. Well, it sems like she cared for them more than she would admit.

So, her life was back on track, no more fighting and more time for Masaya. She never got late to their dates anymore…well, almost never. Because there were times when that Shirogane would say that there was something else that needed to be done and kept her to do that. Ah! She will smash his head someday! Besides Shirogane, everything was going good. Actually, even with

him things were ok. She kind of got used with his behavior towards her. That doesn't mean that there was no screaming and fuming, but that was not the point now. She loved her life and her friends. Being around everyone made her forget about having detention or about poor grades and brought her spirits up when it was raining – 'cause she really hated when it was raining, it got her depressed.

All till a few days ago, when Masaya came and said "I want to go to England and study!" and she felt like the sky was crushing on her. They met today to talk more about that, and she couldn't stop herself from asking him not to go. Big mistake. She never expected him to have such a reaction. He never had such a reaction before. He never spoke to her with that tone…and to say those things! When did he change? I never noticed. His words still haunted her, tearing her hearts apart. Am I really selfish? Maybe he was right. He did do so many things for her, and what did she give him in return? Nothing. The tears were forming again in her eyes and flooded her face. And still he chose her over any other girl. He, the smart, good looking, gentle person chose her, as mediocre, common and clumsy she was. He chose the ordinary me!

A sudden knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She lifted her head and looked at her clock. It was 1 am. Damn, my parents must have returned and saw the light on. They must be worried. She wiped her tears with her hand and tried to speak a normal voice, although it didn't really work:

"Yes?"

"Can I come in?"

"Well, mom, you see I am kind of naked…and I wanted to go to sleep and…"

Her mother was already in so there was no sense in continuing with the excuses. He didn't seemd as surprised or as mad as Ichigo expected to see her.

"Ichigo, there is something wrong with you and I thought maybe we could talk a little."

"I'm ok mom. I just want to sleep" said Ichigo, trying to hide her face by looking for the pajamas.

"Oh, come on! You're acting like I'm a total stranger and like I'm blind. And deaf. You think I didn't hear you crying these days, hiding in a corner? Anyway, I left your father at the party and I came to talk to you. I knew you would be awake. I don't like that sad face of yours. It's just doesn't suit you. There's something on your mind in the last few days and I'm not leaving till we you tell me! Oh, and I know it's not about school, because you never get that upset over school, so don't even try."

Well, she was determined! So much for trying to get her out of the room or tell her about a poor grade. She let out a sigh and obeyed.

"Okay."

They both sat on the bad. Sakura waited for Ichigo to relax and tell her what was happening.

"You know that boy I'm dating like 3 years now? Aoyama Masaya?"

She knew it was a pointless question. Of course her mother knew. Duh! She was not blind or stupid. Or deaf. She told her so many times about him and how wonderful he is that she was probably having nightmares. It was stupid to ask such a question, so she continued:

"A few days ago he told me he was wants to study in another country. That's why I got so sad all of a sudden. And today…today…"

She stopped. Her tears were threatening to spill again. She felt her mother's hand caressing her hair. She got a little more courage.

"He asked me to go with him!" she let it all out.

Her mother was shocked. Ichigo could tell that by her hand movement in her hair. It stopped all of a sudden, and after a few seconds continued, like nothing happened. She expected to be screamed at, but that didn't come. In stead, her mother spoke in a calm voice:

"And what do you want?"

At first, she thought it was a joke, that her mother was testing her. But she soon realized it wasn't. She'd never seen her mother talking so serious with her. But there was no reason before to be so serious. Not everyday your daughter tells you "Hey, maybe I'll leave to another country! How about that?" So maybe it was better if she answered her question and didn't keep her waiting. But…what did she really want?

"I don't know. That's why I'm like this. At first I was shocked, but after that was gone, I tried to realize what I want most, but it feels l can't get the balance to incline in one part or another" came the answer.

"So that's how it is. Then let's think about it together. Look, Ichigo, I would never want you to leave so far. Not I and not you father as well. Our life would be empty without you, plus your father would probably run on the street with a gun and randomly shoot people, but that's not the point."

Both of them smiled at the thought. Ichigo knew it wasn't that far away from the truth. He would probably go crazy, considering the way he reacted only when he heard the word "boy".

"On the other hand, Sakura continued, I don't want us to be the ones who stand between you and your happiness; because we are your parents and we only want what's good for you. I know this sounds common, but it's just the way it is. Think about it this way! Would it be worth it to leave?

Would you leave, knowing that you will be lonely there? Because you will be at first, till you make friends. If he wants to leave, it means he wants a big career or something, which means you will be in the shadow. So, again, you will be alone. And is it ok to hurt all the people that love you by going away for him? If this is ok for you, it means you really love him and you should go and give up everything else. It's not like we won't talk to you or stuff like that, but it wouldn't be the same, you know that too. If not, give it another thought."

Her mother smiled at her, putting her hand around Ichigo's shoulders, to comfort her,

"I can't do anything else for you. You have to make the decision on your on. And one last thing…does he really loves you if he asks you to sacrifice everything for him?"

"Does he really love you?" Of course he loves me! He did a lot of sacrifices for me.

Her mother words were still echoing in her head. Sakura has left 20 minutes ago, and Ichigo was in bed, with the lights off, but still couldn't sleep. She needed to make that damn decision. She couldn't take the uncertainty any more. She didn't want to leave everyone. Of course she didn't and it was unfair of him to ask that. She never asked him to stay with her when she was a Mew, because she knew she couldn't put him first, so she couldn't ask for him to do that. Doesn't this mean that she wasn't selfish? But he did put her first anyway and he was there for her, patient, always waiting, which she really appreciated. This must mean he really loved her. He never said that to her, but he didn't need to; his actions spoke for him. She never said that she loved him either, because she was afraid of his reaction, because he didn't say that. But maybe he didn't say because she didn't say…oh, forget it, she was talking nonsense now.

The fact was that they loved each other, even if they said it or not. But now, he wanted to leave. How could he even think of that? How could he picture his life without her? The whole thing with the Mew Mew's was not her idea! She had to save Tokyo. She couldn't leave it to the aliens to just take over. But this…this was his idea. He had a choice and he chose to leave. And now she had a choice too. And she couldn't imagine living without him. She knew he would never return to Tokyo, so if she'll choose to stay, she'll loose him. She'll loose her happiness and her dreams. What should I do? If I don't go, my heart will be in pieces for al my life probably! Tears were coming again down her cheeks. She felt asleep at 5 am that morning, tormented by her thoughts. She finally made a decision: If he wants that, then so it will be!

End of chapter one.

So, this is the first chapter! I'm waiting for some reviews. (Pretty please! blinks a lot) In case you are wondering, the next chapter is already written, but I won't post it so fast. I'll let at least a week pass. So if you want to know what Ichigo decided, review. (Yes, I am blackmailing you!:P)