So, remember those rumors that I had a P/L story squirreled away? I wasn't kidding. It's not completely written yet, but it's over halfway done. So, ta da, here it is. Not making promises on when I'll update, though. I'm in my last week of classes and for some reason said "Why the heck not?" and uploaded this so, yeah.

Yes, yes, I'm working on Alien Ultimatum and Girl with a Porpoise. Those just aren't ready for posting yet. GwaP should be soon, though, and look a bit closer to Christmas for the first chapter of Alien Ultimatum.

This story is a mixture of romance and family, focusing predominately on Pie and Lettuce for the romance and the lovely Ikisatashi's for the family part. (This includes my OCs from the Alien Uprising Trilogy and A Change of Heart). I also make no promises about side pairings.

And, I feel it's fair to warn you all about this: I love Pie. So very much. Which is why for some reason I am very cruel to him and make him suffer. So this is going to be filled with Pie physical, mental and emotional whumpage. But it's okay, because he'll have Lettuce and all will be right in the universe! So, come for the hurt, stay for the comfort?

That all being said, I do not in any way, shape or form own Tokyo Mew Mew. I do lay claim to any Original Characters.

Prologue:

Pie Ikisatashi didn't remember anything after the explosion.

He heard nothing, he smelled nothing, he felt nothing. And he saw nothing.

It was all black, all fuzzy, all foggy.

Though he had awakened a few times before then, he had no true memories until a week after the explosion, when he came-to in the hospital, surrounded by his family, his sister clutching his hand and his mother stroking his hair.

He hurt all over, his entire body stiff and aching. He moaned softly, trying to move. He tried to open his eyes but found that he couldn't. He didn't know why.

"Hey."

He instinctively turned his head towards the speaker of the voice. He knew that voice better than his own. It was that of his twin sister, his constant companion since birth.

"How are you feeling, Pie-Chan?" Rindou whispered softly, squeezing her brother's bandaged hand.

"Where am I?" He managed to mutter, his lips cracked, his throat dry and aching.

"You are in the hospital, son."

That was the voice of his father. Loving and protective. Pie felt his father's hand be placed on top of his head gently.

"Here, take a sip of this," Rin said softly, bringing a cup to Pie's lips, helping him take a few small sips of the cool water.

"Why am I here?" Pie asked after Rin took away the cup, then the memories came back.

Standing over his workstation in the laboratory. Rin had already left, waving good-bye and telling him not to stay too late. He promised her he would be back in time for dinner before going back to his microscope, he didn't think this would take more than an hour. His nose wrinkling at the smell of chemicals mixing, recognizing which ones they were and wondering which of the three other scientists that were currently there had combined those chemicals and for what reason. The cry of surprise, someone yelling for them to get out of there, a second too late. The resounding boom.

"Explosion," He muttered, answering his own question. "An experiment got out of control. The chemicals hit the flame of a burner."

He heard a sniffle. Another one of his sisters, most likely.

"You're lucky to be alive, Pie," Kish said somewhere near Pie's feet. "Very lucky."

Pie couldn't disagree with him, especially considering how close he had been to the blast.

"Why can I not open my eyes?" Pie asked. He slowly lifted his hand to the corner of his eye and found bandages wrapping around his head, covering his eyes. His brow furrowed. "Why are my eyes wrapped?"

He felt his mother's hand caress his cheek with one hand while the other lowered his arm back to the bed.

"Do not worry, sweetheart, you will be able to open your eyes soon," She promised. Pie could imagine her sweet, gentle smile. She gently kissed his temple, just above the bandages. "Just rest, let the Healers do their job and let your body heal. Sleep."

Pie drifted to sleep again, his breathing evening out again. That was where this memory ended for him. However, for the rest of his family, the memory lasted longer, was more painful.

Risa Ikisatashi moved her hand from her oldest child's face and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Her husband, Curry, moved around the bed to hold her to him, stroking her hair.

"Everything will be alright," He whispered, trying to reassure her and himself in the same sentence.

"Kish isn't wrong," Sixteen year old Rirī muttered from where she held her nine year old sister Rōzu on her lap, gently playing with the younger girl's hair. "Pie is lucky."

"He really got beat up," Twelve year old Tart muttered from where he leaned against the wall, ducking his head to hide his own tear-filled eyes.

"Pie Onii-Chan is going to get better, right?" Six year old Éclair asked as she looked up at Kish, who held her as her lower lip trembled as she sniffled again, her eyes once more filling with tears.

Fifteen year old Kish gave his younger sister a smile and squeezed her.

"Yeah, of course he is," Kish said, kissing her forehead. "The Healers said he'll be all better in just a few weeks."

"Not all better," Eighteen year old Rin whispered. She squeezed her eyes shut then sat down on the floor, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. She started to cry, as she had every day since she and her siblings were called into the Healer's office, where their father sat grim-faced and their mother sobbed. "He might never be 'all better'."

Pie had been brought to the hospital with many burns from both the fire and the chemicals of the lab, with second-degree-burns covering much of the right side of his body, though there were places where the burns were third-degree. His left leg was broken in several places, as well as a fracture in his right leg, and his back was covered with shrapnel. He was covered with nicks and scratches from broken glass, some larger chunks imbedding themselves into the muscle. His spleen was ruptured, he had three broken ribs and a number of bruised organs. He had lost a lot of blood. The Healers worked for many hours over him, performing multiple surgeries to save his life and reduce infection. One of these surgeries including one to place what they hoped to be a temporary device next to his heart to keep it beating after stopping twice and fearing that it would happen again. Once they had taken care of the life-threatening concerns, more surgeries followed throughout the next week, and would continue to follow over the next few months.

But the worst of the damage…the worst of the damage was that during the explosion, some chemicals had splashed into Pie's eyes, damaging the various nerves, cells and tissues of the fragile organs.

The Healers had worked hard, doing everything they could, but they still could not foretell what the result would be until the bandages around Pie's eyes were removed. The medicines and surgeries may have worked… but at the same time they might not have.

"How are we going to tell him he could be blind?" Rin asked softly.