Opposites Attract

by Rhythm Child

When Mews and Aliens meet, there are always mixed emotions but none as strong as the two in here. Kish loves Lauren. Lauren seems unsure. She acts mysterious and as if she hides. Kikki wants Taruto as a friend. Will she get her wish?

Opposites Attract

It was a bright summer day. The sun shone high in the crystal clear ceiling of blue sky. The Summer Vacation had just begun. Kids should have been roaming the streets but they weren't. On a seemingly flawless summer day, something wasn't right. The kids that countless summers back sat up trees or on the pavement waiting for the ice-cream man to arrive, stayed inside their homes, watching at the windows. What they were watching out for, on this day, was currently racing up the road at full speed. It's great paws left marks on the tarmac as it bounded towards the cul de sac. The great beast skidded to a halt and sniffed at the air. The kids in the surrounding houses held their breaths. Great red eyes looked through every window with a menacing stare that made everyone watching freeze with fear. A tall figure floated beside the great beast's head. He raised a pale hand towards the sky. Shining golden spheres formed in his palm. A smile crossed his face revealing two small fangs. In one swift movement he brought his hand down sending the golden spheres shooting towards one of the nearby houses. The small seven-year old at the window shrieked in terror and ducked down. The golden spheres fell short of the house and struck the pavement in front of it. When the smoke cleared, there was a crater marking the contact of the spheres on its surface. The floating figure that had summoned those spheres cursed under his breath. He addressed the beast beside him in a raspy voice. "Predasite! Attack!" he held his pale hand out towards the house he'd failed to hit gesturing to the beast that that was the one it ought to go for. "Now!"

The great beast threw its head back and unleashed a truly horrifying cry. It's red eyes fixed themselves on the terrified little girl in the window. It advanced slowly towards the house. Every step it took made it look more menacing. When it reached the pavement , it turned around. It's long thick tail whipped at the side of the house causing tremors. The tail pulled back then lashed out again and again. The creature stopped and was about to turn around to face the house again when it was stopped by a high, female voice. "Don't even think about it rodent!"

The beast searched angrily for the source of the voice. Its eyes fell across a group of girls at the entrace to the cul de sac. Each one looked different and extremely odd. they weren't your average girls. These girls had many things about them that were different from a normal girl. The girl at the front wore a pink dress. Her hair and eyes were the same shade of pink. She had black cat ears and a tail with a large red bow with a bell attatched. She was the one who had addressed the beast. The girls behind her wore similar uniforms. They were all slightly different and their hair styles varied enormously. Their hair matched their outfits. There was a girl dressed in turquoise with blue hair. She had small blue wings and a feather tail. the girl next to her wore a green uniform that resembled a fancy swimming suit. Her lime green hair had two antenna-like things coming out of the top. Her hair was short but had one long clump held together by ribbon and allowed to fall behind her. There was a blonde girl with a yellow uniform. She didn't wear a dress. Hers came up to the neck and went down until it met the legs and became shorts. her eyes were brown and she had orange monkey ears and a curly tail. Next to her stood the famous model/actress/singer dressed differently from everyone else. Her long purple hair flowed behind her. A short strapless top didn't go down as far as her belly button. She wore a short mini skirt and large boots that came up past the knees. Her grey wolf ears and tail added more glamour to her. Her uniform was a different shade of purple to her hair. The last two girls were cousins. The orange haired girl wore a short orange dress. The ginger dog ears and tail finished it off. the girl next to her was the last of the group. She had red hair and a red uniform. From her head protruded two squirrel ears and a squirrel tail from behind.

All of the girls had a band around one of their legs. They also had a band around their necks that a small golden pendant hung from. They all had puffy bands around their arms up near the shoulders. The bands matched colours of the outfits they wore.

"Mew Mews! Let's get this rat back in the sewers!" called the pink girl.

"Sewers? Ew!! I'm not going anywhere near the sewers! I just had a bath last night!" complained the blue girl.

"Stop whining!! It's a figure of speech. I meant lets kick its butt!" the pink girl explained.

"Well why didn't you say so?"

"Forget it okay?"

"Fine."

"Okay everyone ready?" the pink girl asked the group.

"Ugh! Do we have to?" asked the blue girl.

"Yes!!"

The blue girl sighed heavily. "Fine. Let's get it over with."

"Okay!"

"Mew Mew Style. Mew Mew Grace. Mew Mew Power in your Face!" chanted the group.

"Mew Mew Power in your face. get something new girls. That's a bit old." said the floating figure.

"It's our slogan. So get over it." snapped the pink girl.

"You could add more on." continued the grinning figure.
"Forget it. I made it so I keep it as it is."

"Fine! Be stubborn. Now. Are you going to fight my Predasite or are you going to stand there looking pretty while it rips that house to shreds?"

"Kish, I hate it when you do that."

"Yeah. I know. That's why I'm doing it."

"Well. If mister pointy ears can move his Cyniclon butt out of the way, we'll proceed in the destruction of the stupid filthy rodent so i can get back to the cafe for some tea. I'm already 2 minutes late."

"Oh boo hoo. Princess Corina's late for tea. Whatever shall we do? Get over it. It's a cup with liquid in it!"

"That's enough from you Kish!! Can we kick his butt too?"

"Once we defeat the predasite."

"Fine. Can we get on with it please, Zoey?"

The pink girl called Zoey nodded. The blue girl called Corina sighed and followed Zoey who was beginning to run towards the Predasite. The other girls followed.

"Where do you think you're going, honey?" asked Kish grabbing the red girl by the arm.

"Let go of me Kish."
"Now why would I do that?"
"Coz I say so!"

"Not good enough for me, Lauren. There is one thing though-"

"No. No no no. You're not getting it."

"Then i don't let go. Simple as that."

A grin had spread across Kish's face. His amber eyes were shining in the light of the sun. His dark green hair hung in low bunches in front of long pointy ears. His short green and brown top blew in the slight breeze. The brown material at the front and back of his green shorts blew as well. The mysterious vines that protruded from his shorts twisted behind him. The red bandages around his arms and shins showed just how pale his skin was. The brown boots he wore were still not touching the ground.

"Now. How about it?" He asked leaning in close.

"Lauren!! Stop hanging around with your boyfriend and help us!!" cried the girl in orange.

"Jennifer! He is not by boyfriend!!"

"Yeah! Sure whatever! Get over here! Corina's getting cranky!"

"I'm trying to!!" Lauren cried attempting to wrench her arm out of Kish's grip.

"I told you i'm not letting go until I get what I-"

"Shut it! I'm not kissing you!!"

"Kish. Give up. She doesn't like you." said a voice. It was raspy like Kish's but it was higher.

"Taruto!! What are you doing here?" asked Kish.

Taruto was floating in the air a little behind Kish. He had brown hair that was held up with high bunches. He had large golden eyes and the same pointy ears as Kish. Taruto wore a short red sleeveless top that had a blue and black bow. The top seperated in the middle. He wore small blue shorts out of which the same mysterious vines protruded. He wore light grey bandages around his arms and shins and wore no shoes. His arms were folded and he was sneering as he spoke.

"Pie told me to check on you. See you're behaving yourself. Guess I'll have to tell him you're not."

"He never trusts me. He trusts you and you're just a kid."

"A ki..a kid?? I am NOT a kid!" Taruto yelled.

"Taruto. You're younger than me." Kish said. he sounded as if he'd said this many times.

"So??" Taruto placed his hands on his hips.

"That means you're a kid to me."
"Shut Up! I ain't a kid!!"

Kish groaned. "I really hate it when you're like this."
"And I hate it when you go soft over a Mew Mew!!"

"That's enough from you Taruto. I'll be sure to remind you of that when you eventually fall for one."

"What makes you so sure I'm gonna do that?"

"You fall for things easily."
"Not as easily as you Kish."

Lauren tried pulling away while the two aliens were arguing. She sighed angrily at finding her arm still being held tightly.

"Your squirrel's trying to escape." taruto said laughing.

kish turned to face Lauren. "You wouldn't need to pull your arm off if you'd just kiss me."
"That's the thing. I don't want to kiss you."
Kish looked into lauren's eyes. "Don't you?" he asked.

"No." Lauren felt uneasy whenever Kish looked directly into her deep blue eyes.

"Fine. I'll do it then." said kish smiling.

"Wha...?" Lauren began.

She didn't get any further because her mouth found Kish's in the way. yet another unwilling kiss.

Kish let go of Lauren's arm. She fell to the ground and rubbed the place where his hand had held her arm tightly.

"One day, it'll be you kissing me." said Kish.

"Not for a long time Kish." said lauren getting to her feet.

"You'd be surprised."

Lauren shook her head and ran towards the great beast that was busy squeezing Corina to death with its great tail.

Kish stood and watched smiling. He remembered Taruto was still there and turned to face him.

Taruto was floating in a sitting position. His legs were crossed and his elbow rested on his knee. he was watching the battle with the predasite with a little smile creeping across his face.

Kish frowned. "What are you smiling at?"

Taruto's smile faded. He folded his arms and glared at Kish.

"How pathetic your Predasite looks. I could have made one better."

"Yeah. better at being pathetic. You can only use plants."

"And bugs! Don't forget the bugs!"

"whatever. I can take spirits. I can do any animal. My predasites are harder to beat."

"Doesn't look that way from here." sneered Taruto.

"That was a weaker one. They're usually stronger."

"Yeah. Sure they are." Taruto said. Full sarcasm in his voice.

"Anyway. What was the real reason you were smiling? It wasn't my predasite that's for sure."

"Why do you think that?"

"Becuase if it was my predasite then you'd be rolling around laughing at how bad you think it looks. You'd be over reacting and exaggerating flaws in it that aren't actually there. So c'mon. Why were you smiling Taruto? Someone catch your eye?"

"Catch my...NO!! Definately not!"

"Then why were you smiling?"

"You wanna know?"

"Why would i be asking if I didn't?"

Taruto sighed. "I was...i was imagining you and the squirrel. What I imagined was funny but believe me, you don't wanna know what it is."

"Oh? And why not Taruto?"

"Coz you'd probably kill me if you knew."

"I'd need to know what it is to decide wether to kick your butt or kill you."

"Well sorry to burst your bubble Kish but I ain't telling you any more."

"I wasn't expecting to get any truth out of you in the first place. I must say I'm a little disappointed and growing a little curious at why you won't tell me the real reason for that smile."

Taruto frowned. "that was the truth! You're just so caught up loving lauren that you think I'm eyeing up one of those mew chicks! Well pop goes another bubble Kish coz I don't like any of 'em!"

Kish stared at the little alien. He sure put up a good fight when he was hiding something. Taruto was definately hiding something and Kish was determined to find out what it was.

His concentration on the matter was lost when a sudden pink light blinded him. When sight returned, Kish noted that the predasite rat was gone. In its place, a smaller, regular sized rat scampered away. Kish sighed. "Oh well. Back to the old drawing board." he said.

He looked around for the Mew Mews. He caught sight of them further down the road, heading towards the Cafe they worked at. cafe mew mew-the cutest cafe in town. Kish frowned. Taruto noticed his expression.

"Aw. What's the matter kish? Were you hoping your Squirrelfriend would stay behind for a kiss? Oh well. Life's tough! HA!"

"Zip your lip, Taruto. Let's get back to base."

"If you say so, Kish. But remember, Pie's not going to be happy when i tell him about you."

"What if I tell him you were smiling at a mew mew first?"

"I was not smiling at a-" Kish disappeared while Taruto was arguing, "Hey! No fair! That's cheating!" Taruto cried as he disappeared after Kish.

Chapter 2:

The girls reached the Cafe. They did not look the same as they had just moments ago. in fact, they all looked like a group of normal girls. Zoey, wearing a dark red and extremely adorable Cafe uniform that matched the colour of her pre-transformation hair: Dark red, entered first.

"Wesley!" she called, "Wesley, we're back! The Cafe can open now!"

"Ah. Girls, there you are. Come on. get this Cafe looking nice and tidy." said a young man with long, tied up brown hair.

"Sure thing Wesley." said Zoey hurrying through to the main eating area.

Corina entered next. She wore a blue uniform. Everyone had the same uniform. The only difference was it's colour. The colour matched something about the wearer. Corina stalked into the kitchen and made her own tea.

Bridget took Kikki in. Bridget wore green and kikki wore orange. Kikki in fact was the girl that wore yellow when she was in her Mew form. the orange colour was because of her monkey ears. She bounced about excitedly. bridget tried to calm her down.

"So, what kind of predasite was it today?" asked Wesley.

"A rat predasite." replied Bridget.

"A rat? That was the first predasite Zoey had to face. Now those Cyniclons are repeating themselves." Wesley shook his head.

bridget and kikki went into the kitchen.

Renee Roberts, the all-star diva in purple walked gracefully in. She shook her head at the commotion Corina was causing in the kitchen and entered the main cafe area.

Lauren and jennifer brought up the rear. Lauren wore a bright red uniform. jennifer's was yellow to match her hair. they walked in arguing. Wesley shook his head laughing to himself and turned the sign at the front of the cafe from CLOSED to OPEN.

Kikki bounced in and out of the kitchen balancing three plates of food and a cup of coffee in her hands. She leapt over tables and performed stunning twirls and didn't spill a drop of the coffee. She reached table seven and placed the coffee and two of her plates on the table. She wished the customer a happy meal and bounced off to serve the last plate in her hand.

Bridget watched nervously. She was always fearing that the plates would fall to the ground if kikki did one false move. bridget always worried about it but fortunately, Kikki was such a good acrobat, that never happened. She sighed with relief as the meal was served safely.

Kikki raced towards Bridget who was now watching Corina who's tea had finally been made. She sat moodily at the table and drank her tea slowly much to the frustration of Zoey.

"Hey Bridget!" Kikki said.

Bridget didn't notice.

"Bridget. Any one home?" Kikki joked.

Bridget tore her gaze away from Corina and turned it to kikki. "Sorry Kikki," she said, "i didn't see you there."

"That's okay. What were you looking at?" asked Kikki curiously.

"Corina. It's about time she actually did some work around here instead of sitting drinking tea." bridget replied.

"She says she is working." kikki said.

"She does? What does she say she's doing?" Bridget asked curiously.

"tea sampling. Checking it's good enough for the customers!" kikki announced.

"Tea Sampling? Kikki, that's just her excuse to sit around all day doing nothing."

"At least i'm not like that huh Bridget?"

"no, Kikki. You're the exact opposite of that."

"How come?"

"You're always performing those perfect tricks. I wish i could do that."

"I'll teach you!!!" Kikki announced.

"uh..no Kikki...that won't be necessary,"

"Aw come on. Why not?"

"I'm just no good at that stuff kikki."

"Oh well. hey! Is that Zoey's boyfriend?" asked Kikki in a loud voice. She was pointing at the boy with black hair and dark skin that had just entered the Cafe.

Zoey swirled round quickly to hide the red on her cheeks. the boy approached her.

"Hey Zoey. Is this a bad time?" he asked.

"uh...no, Mark. I've just finished all my tables."

"Good. I've come to ask you something."
"A..ask me something? What is it Mark?" asked Zoey, her face going more and more red.

"Come outside. There's too many people here."

Mark and Zoey went to stand on the balcony.

"What do you suppose he's going to ask her?" Bridget asked Kikki.

"He's gonna ask her out! I can feel it!" Kikki replied loudly.

"Kikki. Can you lower your voice a bit please?"

"Sure thing Bridget. Hows that?" she said in a lower voice.

"Better. thanks."

"No problem."

"So, you really think he's going to ask her out?"

"I'm positive!! have I ever been wrong?"

"Um..yes."

Kikki frowned and put on a mock sad face.

"Maybe once in a while.." she said.

"He's not asking her out." said a voice.

Bridget turned and saw Renee standing there.

"How do you know, Renee?" asked Kikki.

"He didn't have that sort of expression on. Stop trying to think about it too much. I'm sure Zoey will tell us when she comes in."

"Speaking of Zoey, where is she? Mark's the only one on that balcony." said kikki pointing.

She was right. Mark was the only one there. He was looking over the edge at something.

"Maybe Zoey's fallen over!" cried bridget.

Kikki and bridget raced over to the balcony. When they got outside, Mark turned round. Fear was in his eyes.

"Zoey fell over the edge!!" he cried. "I can't see her though!"

"She fell over? How?" asked bridget.

"I've been growing a bit suspicios about her. Something about her similar to someone else i've met. I just started talking about the show. you know, the one Renee was on. Wild World of the Wilderness."

"The one with the mew mews you mean." Kikki added.

"Yes. The one in pink is just like Zoey. I wanted to know if she knew her. i asked Zoey and she just fell over."

"Well, Mark. there's a reason for that. And don't worry about her. She'll fall on her feet no matter what the height."

"What?"

"Zoey is the girl in pink."

"Sh..she is? Does that mean that you are as well? The other girls?"
"It's quite obvious Mark! Cafe Mew Mew? Ring a bell?" Kikki said.

"That's how i got suspicious. Oh man I hope she's not mad at me." Mark cried.

"I'll go check on her! Monkey reflexes I have!"

kikki leapt onto a tree. She raced down the side of it and looked around. She spotted Zoey sitting against the wall of the cafe beneath the balcony. Her head was on her knees and there were sobbing noises.

Kikki approached her slowly. "Zoey? What's the matter?"

Zoey raised her head. Her eyes were swollen and red. "He knows. Mark knows I'm a freaky cat girl. He knows."

"Zoey. He knows I'm a hyperactive monkey and i'm sure at this very moment, bridget's telling him everything else."

"Oh no! he's going to think I'm more of a freak!" she put her head on her knees again.

"Zoey! He was more worried when you fell over the edge than wether you're a cat or not. And didn't you save him once?"

"Uh..yeah?"

"So he won't think you're a freak if you saved his life silly!" Kikki explained.

"y..you think so?"

"I'm sure of it! Have i been wrong before?"

"Um. Yes. Lot's of times."

"Not all the time!!"

"Oh well. I trust your view here. But i can't let him see me like this. I look awful!"

"I got it! You go clean up. i'll tell Mark you're okay!!"

"Alright Kikki. Thanks."

Zoey got up and walked round to the back entrance to the Cafe. Kikki raced up the tree and leapt back onto the balcony.

Mark was busy learning about the Cyniclons from bridget.

"So..they used to live here but they were forced to leave because of natural catastrophes? And now they've come back, we're here and they want their planet back?"

"Exactly...hey Kikki. Well?"

"Zoey's fine. She's just cleaning up."

"That's a relief." said Mark.

"yeah. So you don't think she's a freak? That's what she's most afraid of you know."

"A freak? Why would I think she's a freak if she's saved my life? I don't look at people that are meant to save the world as freaks. They're just different. And as Zoey said a while ago: Dare to be Different. Now i think I know why she said it."

"Well. That's good. the Cafe's about to close. You better leave. Sorry." said Bridget.

"That's ok. I was just leaving. Huh?" Mark looked around.

"What's up?" asked Kikki.

"I thought I saw something watching us...forget it. it's nothing. See you."

Mark walked inside the cafe.

"Something watching us. That's quite likely. Those silly Cyniclons are always poking about trying to find out what we're up to." said bridget.

She walked back inside the Cafe to help the others tidy up.

Chapter 3:

Kikki stayed on the balcony. She sensed the presence of someone else. A pair of eyes fixed on her.

"Hello? Who's there?" she asked.

She caught movement out of the corner of her eye.

"Who's there?" kikki asked again.

"Who d'you think?" asked a voice.

Kikki recognized it instantly.

"Taruto?"

"Dammit! How did you know it was me?"
"I've heard your voice a lot. i'd recognise it anywhere."

"Hmph!"

"Well? Where are you?"

"Up here!"

Kikki looked up.

"Where??"

"Behind you."

Kikki turned around. No-one was there.

"I can't see you."

"I'm in front of you! Stupid."

"No you're not."

"i am."
"You're not."
"I am!"
"You're not. Coz when i turn round you're just going to move away."

"Am not."

Kikki turned round quickly. She needn't have turned around as quickly as she had for Taruto stayed where he was.

"told you I was here."

Kikki laughed.

"Wha..what's so funny?" asked Taruto.

"Silly me. I didn't realise Taru-Taru was playing."

"...Taru-Taru???"

"Taru-Taru! You!"

"ME!??! I wasn't playing with you."

"Yes you were taru-Taru! Hide and seek!"

"That wasn't hide and seek. That was...hold on..what's hide and seek?" Taruto asked bewilderedly.

"It's where someone hides and another has to find and catch them. that's what you were playing, taru-taru. hide and seek!"

"...i didn't mean it to seem like playing!! And stop calling me that! it's annoying!"

"okay, Taru-Taru."

"I said Stop It!"

"okay."

"better."

"Why were you here anyways taru-taru?"

Taruto slapped a hand to his forehead in frustration.

"Stop calling me that!! Reality check! the name's Taruto not taru-Taru!!"

"I know that silly! I just like Taru-Taru!!"

"Well I don't!"

"but i do! And if i like it, I'm calling you it!"

taruto frowned and stuck his tongue out.

"oh! You wanna play cheeky? I can play that game too!"

Kikki stuck her tongue out and made an awful noise.

Taruto stopped sticking his out and stared at the rasping Kikki with a hint of amusement tracing his face.

Kikki opened her eyes and stopped making rasping noises. She smiled when she saw the slight smile Taruto had on.

"I must've looked pretty stupid..." she said turning red.

"Stupid and funny." Taruto corrected her.

"So. Why were you here?" Kikki asked.

Taruto's smile faded. He folded his arms and frowned.

"None of your business chimpy!" he said.

"Chimpy?" Kikki asked bewilderedly.

"yeah. You're a chimp!!" Taruto said, his smile returning.

kikki laughed at his mistake.

"Wha..what's so funny?" Taruto asked.

"I'm not a chimp. I'm a Golden Lion Tamarin Monkey, silly Taru-Taru."

"Oh! Silly Me!! You're a monkey! A chimp is a monkey stupid!!! You're a stupid chimp to me."

"Kikki!! Where are you?" Bridget called from inside the cafe.

"I'm on the Balcony, Bridget..." Kikki called back. She noticed Taruto's expression, "What?" she asked.

"i thought you were gonna say i was here." Taruto said.

"I was...hey. Why do you not want to be seen here?" asked Kikki curiously.

"I..uh...you guys weren't meant to know I was here ok!!???" Taruto snapped.

"I won't tell them Taru-Taru. Your secret's safe with me."

"S..secret?? What secret?" Taruto asked.

"I know you came to see me Taru-Taru."

Taruto glared at Kikki. "I DID NOT COME TO SEE YOU! YOU STUPID CHIMP!!" he yelled.

When he realized he'd just yelled at the top of his voice he shot a hand to his mouth and held it tightly.

"Thank you Taru-Taru." Kikki said after a short interval of silence.

Taruto stared at Kikki utterly confused.

"Thank you?? What for?" he asked.

"Thanks for playing with me!!"

"P..p..playing with you? I was not playing with you! I don't play with enemies."
"Listen Taruto, you don't have to play the bad guy just now. We're not fighting."

Taruto remained silent. he'd noticed kikki had called him by his name.

"Why are you being so nice? We're enemies! You're my enemy! Why are you treating me like...like a.."

"Like a friend?"

"Like a Human!! I'm not!" Taruto ignored Kikki.

"I know you're not. That doesn't mean we can't be-"

"Why are you treating me like that!!??? Why are you not scared of me??"

"I'm not scared Taru-Taru! It's not possible for me to be scared just now."

"Not possible? Why?"

"Because my friend is with me!"

"F..friend? Friend??? FRIEND!??"

"Yes! Me and you!! We're friends!"

Taruto went paler than his already paler-than-pale skin could go.

"We...are...not!! we are not friends!" He said.

kikki giggled and bent her knees slightly. Taruto saw how she was standing and frowned.

"Why are you standing like that?"

He got his answer seconds later when kikki pounced up from her springing position and captured taruto in a hug that sent the two of them falling over the edge of the balcony and into a bush below.

"Get...OFF...me!" Taruto cried attempting to wrench himself away from Kikki.

He froze when he heard a familiar laugh. He noticed kikki had heard it too.

"Heh heh. Young Love." laughed Kish, appearing from a tree.

Taruto sprang to his feet and went bright red.

"You're obviously confusing me with yourself, Kish! I do not like the chimp!" he said.

"Why were you here spying on her then?" Kish asked.

"I was not spying on her!" Taruto snapped pointing at kikki who was climbing out of the bush. "I was spying on all of them! To see what they're up to if they're up to anything! She caught me!"

Kish folded his arms and smirked. "sure." he said.

"She did!! I was about to leave!"

Kish laughed. "And I'm supposed to believe you after i caught you smiling at the mew mews today?"

"I was not smiling a t the mew mews!"

"Then what were y-"

"And i'm not telling you what it was!! end of story!"

"oh no, my dishonest young friend, it has only begun."

"Why were you here anyway?" Taruto asked, a smirk on his face.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Taruto. I came here to see my little squirrel and overheard you and Kikki."

Taruto's face fell. "you're that open about it? You're wierd."

"So are you. You're very hard to work out but not impossible to predict."

"Okay, predict my next move mr smarty pants." Taruto said smugly.

"I'm not in the mood."

"C'mon! predict me!! Predict me!!"

"Quit nagging! You sound like a baby!"

"I do not sound like a baby! I..."

"OH! Oh me! Me!" Kikki squealed jumping up and down.

Taruto continued ranting and raving. Kish ignored him and turned to Kikki. "Yes?"

"Taru-Taru's going to cry coz someone's going to say he's a kid which he is!" despite the low, quiet tone Kikki used Taruto stopped shouting and turned to face her. Tears welled in his eyes. "I'm...not..a kid!" he said. His voice wavered as he spoke. Kish stood behind him counting the seconds till the waterworks. "5..4..3..2...1..."

"Waaaah! I hate you guys! I'm not a kid! No I'm not a kid !! I'm not! I'm not! I'm not! Pffffft!"

Taruto began to cry loudly. Kikki leapt forwards and clasped his mouth shut.

"Shhh!" she said, "I was just kidding!"

Taruto tried to say something but it came out all muffled because of Kikki's hand. Kikki knew what it was because of the tone he used.

"Yeah, I know, Taru-Taru. That was mean of me. Sorry."

She let go of Taruto's head and stood back giggling.

"Hello?? Anyone there?" asked a voice.

Kikki recognized it instantly as Zoey's. She began to call to her but found her mouth being clamped shut by Taruto. "payback!" he hissed in her ear, "you're not getting us caught."

Kikki tried to say something but it came out as a squealing muffle. She tried to pull Taruto's hands away from her mouth but failed in doing so. For every time Kikki pulled at his hands, he held tighter. Eventually, Kikki decided her mouth was the only thing left. She opened her mouth as wide as was possible with Taruto holding it and bit down on his thumb. There was a moment of absolutely nothing. No sound. No movement. No nothing. That was quickly followed by Taruto falling back screaming with pain clutching his hand tightly and Kikki falling down massaging her mouth and face.

"SHE BIT ME!! SHE BIT ME!! THE STUPID MONKEY BIT ME!!!" Taruto screamed.

"Well, she definately knows how to get you caught," Kish laughed.

"Shut up!!" Taruto cried, his voice quieter now, "those stupid mew freaks would've heard me by now!"

"What was your first clue, midget?" asked a voice.

"Zoey!!" Kikki cried.

"Kikki? You're there too? What on Earth are you doing with them?" asked Zoey appearing from behind a bush.

"Playing with Taru-Taru," Kikki replied.

"Who's Taru-Taru?"

"Taruto of course!"

"Taruto!!??? And you were playing with him?"

"NO! NO SHE WASN'T!" Taruto yelled.

"Well it sure looked like playing from the way i saw it." said Kish , joining the conversation.

"Hold on..you're here too? What are you guys doing here??" asked Zoey.

"Oh come on! Why else would I hang around Cafe Mew Mew at closing time?"

"Um...to see Lauren?"

"Bang On!"
"So why are you here and not stalking her?"

"I overheard voices and came to have a nosey in and guess who I find: Kikki and Taruto on the balcony. Of course I don't show myself, I wanted to see what would happen. Well, I got to see something. Your Kikki grabbed Taruto in a suffocating hug and the two of them fell down here."

"Kikki is this true?"

"You bet it is! Taru-Taru's my friend!"

"I AM NOT YOUR FRIEND!"

"Enemies don't play hide and seek together, Taru-Taru."

"I wasn't playing hide and seek. I told you that!!!!"

"Then what were you doing Taru-Taru?" Kikki asked.

"I was...I was...i don't know...i wasn't playing with you though!"

"That's okay Taru-Taru. I know what you mean." Kikki winked.

Taruto froze temporarily. he didn't know what kikki meant.

"O-kay. I dunno what you mean, but from that wink, I think you're wrong!"

"Zoey?" called another voice. "Zoey? Are you there? I heard shouting."

Lauren stepped out from behind the bush. The first thing she saw was Zoey. The second was taruto and kikki. The last made her stomach drop. Kish laughed at the expression she wore.

"Lauren? What are you still doing here? I thought you'd left." said Zoey.

"I had. I've been...busy." Lauren replied.

Kish noticed the pause before she'd said the word "busy" and began to wonder what she'd been doing.

As if she'd read his mind, Zoey asked Lauren a question drenched with curiosity.

"What were you busy doing?"

Lauren stayed silent for a few moments. "just...stuff."

"Yeah? What kinda stuff?" asked taruto. "Preparing your dress for your marriage to Kish?" He laughed at his joke.

"Stop being stupid Taruto." snapped lauren, her face colour darkening a little.

"Hey. Why're you blushing?" asked Taruto, the grin he was wearing getting bigger.

"I'm not blushing!" snapped Lauren.

"hey, Kish! Guess I was wrong! Maybe she does like you after all!"

"Taruto, shut up!"

"Make me!"

Lauren groaned.

"Well? Aren't you gonna make me shut up?"

"It's not worth it. Wasting energy on a stupid kid like you."

"Hey!! I'm no kid!!"

"Then you're a midget."
"I'm not a midget!!"
"Shut up."

"Make me!!"

Lauren slapped a hand to her forehead and sighed deeply.

"Allow me..." said Kish, walking over to Taruto, who was busy gibbering on about absolutely nothing useful.

Kish grabbed Taruto's ear and held it high so taruto hung in the air with his feet off the ground.

"Owowowowowow!! Sorry!! I'll shut up! I'LL SHUT UP!!"

"good."

Kish dropped Taruto and went to Lauren's side. Lauren stepped away from him, her face growing a tinge redder.

Taruto whimpered quietly as he rubbed his throbbing ear.

Kikki took pity on the little alien. She put a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked.

Taruto turned and scowled. "Get your hand off me! And no. Do you think I'm okay?!" he said in a low whisper that sounded more like a hiss.

"No. Did he hurt you Taru-Taru?"

"I'm about to hurt you in a minute if you keep calling me that."

He took his hands away from his ear. It was red and inflamed where it had been pinched tightly.

Kikki turned to Kish. "Did you need to hurt him to shut him up?"

Kish shrugged. Kikki glared at him. "Did you?"

Kish still didn't answer. Kikki started to get angry. "Did you need to dig your nails into his ear to shut him up?"

"Do you know any other way to shut him up?" Kish snapped back angrily.

"He'll shut up when he feels like it. And anyways, I don't really mind him talking."

"That's because you want him to be your friend."

"He wants me too!" Kikki changed her tone from cross to excited.

Taruto gaped at her. he was not the only one. Lauren, Zoey and kish were gaping at her too. Their gazes shifted from kikki to taruto and back to kikki. Taruto broke the stunned silence with a single word: "WHAT!!??" he yelled.

"Taru-Taru, the whole reason for you turning up tonight is because you want a friend."

"I do not want to be friends with a dimwitted monkey-brained Mewtant like you!!"

"That may be. But I want to be friends with you. Notice how I don't call you midget or runt. I don't mean to get you upset sometimes Taruto."

"Kikki, leave him. He'll never befriend a human. We shouldn't try to befriend him." Zoey said. "Any ways, why do you even like the annoying little twerp?"

"I'm not an annoying little twerp! You old hag!" Taruto cried.

"Why you little runt!! Don't you dare call me an old hag when you're a stupid annoying little twerpy midget!" Zoey growled.

Taruto glared at Zoey. He attempted to hide the fact he was upset but his emotions got the better of him. He turned and flew into the tree behind him, perched himself on the highest branch

and began to cry silently.

Kikki watched him from the ground. She turned and frowned at Zoey.

"What did you do that for?" she asked with a hint of anger tracing her voice.

"Do what?" Zoey asked moodily.

"Call him all those names at once? You knew that would hurt him and you made your point earlier on so why get him upset?"
"He called me an old hag! And why are you sticking up for him anyway? He doesn't like you. You shouldn't like him. He's a-"

"A Cyniclon. I know. But does that stop Kish wanting Lauren? No!! Now if you'll all excuse me, I have someone I'm going up to check on!"

With that, Kikki turned around and climbed up the tree.

Chapter 4:

She reached the highest branches and found Taruto with his head in his hands sobbing.

"Taruto?" Kikki said in a soothing voice.

Taruto raised his head and frowned.

"What do you want baboon-butt? Come to pick on me some more?"

"No. Taru-Taru, I have no right to pick on you and so i don't. Look at me. I'm practically the same size as you and the same age. I can't call you anything without it honestly meaning me as well. Those idiots down there can't think of a proper snappy remark to return to you after you pass a witty comment on something so they say the first stupid thing that comes into their heads and that just so happens to be a criticism of your size and age. They call you those stupid names unaware that they also affect one other person in the vicinity. Me. I don't like seeing people upset Taru-Taru. Especially you."

Taruto gaped at Kikki. He stared wide-eyed with confusion as he attempted to work out what the little monkey-mew had just said.

When he finally realised what she was saying, the shadows of a smile showed on his streaked face. When he realised what he was doing, he turned it into a laugh. Kikki smiled at his amusement.

"Y...you called them idiots!! All of them! HA!" Taruto gasped through hysterical laughter.

"yes. They can all be right idiots at times."

Taruto howled with laughter. it was a loud noise. He went as red as his top and held his mouth shut when he heard it echo around him.

"it's okay Taru-Taru. They're not paying attention to us."

"Then what are they doing?"

"Attempting to find out where Lauren really was busy."

"Yeah right. They'll be talking about me."

"No. They're not. I can hear them."

"Sure."

Kikki giggled. This day had been really fun for her.

Taruto frowned. "You're having a good time."

"Yes!! One of the many best days of my life!"

Taruto's eyes widened with curiosity. "Huh? Why??"

"Because I've been able to spend it with my friend!!"

"Friend?"

Taruto remained silent for a few moments. His face was creased into a frown as his thoughts flowed.

Kikki sat smiling at the little alien. Taruto began to blush. He sat up straight, still wearing his frown. "Why do you think I'm your friend?" he asked.

"You came here and you were watching me. You were playing with me a little. You didn't run away when i spotted you. You haven't attacked me. You need a good friend Taruto. I'll be your friend. Just friends."

Taruto stared. He thought about what the little monkey had said. He opened his mouth to reply but shut it tightly and shook his head.

"You don't have to decide just now taru-Taru. Sometimes it takes time to think things through."

"It didn't take Kish long to decide what he was going to do." Taruto said smirking.

"Yeah. In the blink of an eye he had his sights set and his mind made up. Some people are quick at choosing like that. like me!!"

"you?"

"yes Taru-Taru! I've decided that no matter how long it takes, I'm going to be your friend."

Taruto sighed. "You just don't stop chasing impossible dreams like that do you? You know we'll never be friends! Stop thinking we will! You are just like Kish chasing dreams that can't be!!"

"Actually, I don't think what Kish is chasing is impossible to catch."

"huh? How?"

"I have a feeling that what Lauren's been up to today has something positive to do with Kish."

"ReallY?? You think so??"

"I'm positive!! Have I ever been wrong?"

"Yeah. Lots of times."

"Why is everybody saying that!??" kikki groaned, growing tired of the same answer.

Taruto sneered. "Because you're almost always wrong!"

Kikki smiled at Taruto. Taruto realised then that he must've said something wrong.

"Almost always?" Kikki said, her smile turning to a wide grin.

Taruto cursed under his breath. "Always!! I meant to just say always!!" he cried.

Kikki's grin widened. She winked at the flustered alien. He froze.

"it's okay taru-Taru. I know what you really meant."

Taruto stared at kikki in utter confusement. "What?"

"Forget it. it's nothing really." The tone kikki used was far from nothing.

Taruto shook his head and tried to catch what was happening below.

"...It's not my fault she likes the midget!! Just like it's not my fault Lauren doesn't like you!!" the unmistakable voice of Zoey rang out.

"you're the one that got the chimp standing up for the kid! You called him midget so its not just me that's in the firing line of Kikki the fire breathing baby monkey!"

"Shut up kish!"

"I'm just making a point!"

"SHUT UP!!"

"Whose fault is it then?"

"SHUT UP!!!"

"Whose fault?"

"Kish. Please be quiet." the voice of Lauren silenced the feud.

Taruto laughed. he heard Kikki giggle and remembered where the two of them were.

"Just like i said. Bunch of idiots." Kikki laughed.

"Uuh. Yeah. Idiots...listen. Why don't you just give up?"

"If i gave up that easily there would be no point in being a Mew Mew would there?"

"I s'pose." Taruto shrugged.

Kikki began to rummage in her pockets. Taruto watched curiously.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"Wait a sec...aah. There it is!" she said holding something in her fist.

"What is it?" asked taruto.

"Here you go!" said kikki holding her hand outstretched towards Taruto.

"huh?" Taruto looked at kikki's hand. Sitting in her palm was a large round sphere decorated in a bright red wrapper.

"fo..for me??" Taruto stammered. This wasn't making sense to him any more. His mind remembered something Pie had told him once. "...Humans give gifts to those they feel affection for. they can range from small things to large expensive things and are often given to friends, family, boyfriends, girlfriends..."

"Take it silly!!" Kikki giggled. "it's not poison!"

"Wha..what is it?"

"Candy! Everybody loves candy!!"

"Candy?"

"Yeah! C'mon take it!"
"Stop fooling me! Why should i have that?"

"Taru-taru! It's just candy! plain old candy! what harm can it bring?"

"Hold on. What the heck's candy!?"

"A sweet tasting snack. A sweetie!"

Taruto hesitated but took the red sphere out of kikki's hand. he held it up and observed it closely. he stowed it away somewhere in those dark blue shorts of his and turned to Kikki.

"You really mean all this then." he said.

kikki nodded.

"then this isn't just some nightmare."

Kikki nodded again, the grin on her face widening.

"or some kind of joke."

Kikki nodded for the third time.

"you're serious." Taruto said almost in disbelief.

"yup."

"Kikki!! We are leaving!!!" called a frustrated Zoey.

"Coming Zoey!!" Kikki replied.

She turned to taruto. "i gotta go. See ya!!"

"Good ridence!" Taruto said.

Kikki giggled. "Smell ya later!" she said as she jumped from the branch.

Taruto frowned. "Smell ya later?? That sounds like something I'd say!" he felt his shorts and felt the bump of the candy. He sighed. Nothing made any sense to him. Kikki wasn't supposed to want to be his friend. She was supposed to be his enemy. Why was nothing what it was supposed to be? Why? He shook his head and vanished into thin air only to reappear in another place.

Chapter 5:

kikki landed on the ground and steadied herself. She looked up grinning. Zoey was glaring at a triumphant looking Kish. Lauren hung around in the shadows. keeping away.

Zoey turned to Kikki. "C'mon. Let's get out of here before things get ugly." she said.

"and...speaking of ugly..." Kish began.

"That's enough from you mister pointy-eared space commander freako!!" Zoey snapped, her black cat ears and tail popping out.

"Mister pointy-eared space commander freako?" Kish said with a hint of amusement.

"Yeah! You!" Zoey said.

"Is that the best you could do Queen of the Litter-Box?" Kish laughed.

"Queen of the...why YOU!!!" Zoey turned around, her eyes wide in rage.

"And...I'll be getting out of here now! Catch ya later Squirkums!" Kish called to Lauren.

Lauren felt her cheeks burn. She tried to hide her face. Kish grinned and then vanished.

Zoey glared at the spot where he'd been just seconds earlier.

"Urgh! the nerve of that guy! Queen of the litter box. Why i oughtta..."

"Zoey. Calm down okay? It's late. Lets just all go home." said kikki after a long yawn.

"yeah. I'm bushed Zoey. See you tomorrow." said lauren turning to walk away.

"Now you wait just one minute mrs blush-when-called-a-lovey-dovey-nickname!" zoey wasn't through yet.

Lauren stopped and sighed.

"What is it Queen Feline?"

"oh now don't you start! I've had it up to here with that irritating freak and i don't want you to start copying him with your Queen feline thing!!"

"Zoey. i'm tired. Kikki's tired. You're getting cranky. We're all tired. Whatever you have to say can it wait till morning?"

"No it can't wait till morning Mrs Buck-toothed-nut-cracker. I have some things i want to know and i want to know them now-HEY! Wait!!"

lauren and kikki had made a run for it and were now running as fast as they could to their own homes. Zoey groaned. "Slippery Squirrel."

She yawned and walked sleepily to her own house.

Kikki scaled the high tree with ease and leapt into her bedroom through the wide open window. She flicked the lightswitch and shielded her eyes from the sudden bright light. She staggered towards her chest of drawers and fell over something curled up on the floor. Kikki fell to her knees and remained like that, breathing heavily. She held the chest of drawers and pulled her self to her feet. The chest of drawers shook as she pulled herself up. Kikki flinched when she heard the sound of breaking glass. A sniffle broke her trail of thought and reminded her of the thing that had tripped her up. She turned around and found herself looking into the watery eyes of her little baby sister. The little girl sniffed again and creased her face into the expression that usually called for a number of buckets and hankies.

"No! Please don't cry! Please!!" cried Kikki.

Too late. The waterworks had been released along with a terrible ear splitting screech. Kikki searched pathetically for something to calm the wailing child. She saw the small pink dummy rolling around near the door. In a quick movement, Kikki grabbed the saliva covered dummy and placed it in the cavernous hole that was the wailing girl's mouth. Immediately, the awful sound ceased and the now content little girl waddled her way towards the door, into the corridor and away down the hall to the room she shared with her five bigger brothers.

Kikki sighed heavily and leant back against the chest of drawers. She let out a painful cry when she felt something sharp pierce her finger. She looked for the source and gasped when she saw lots of glass on the floor beside her. In the middle of the sea of glass, lay a broken photo frame which surrounded one of kikki's most treasured posessions. It was a photo of her and her siblings as much younger children. Kikki was in the centre playing with her milk bottle in the arms of a frail-looking young woman who stood beside an equally frail looking young man. These people were Kikki's long dead parents. Tears welled in the little monkey mew's eyes. She wiped them hurriedly and slipped the photo out from under the glass. She looked at it for a moment, then stood up and slipped it under her pillow. Kikki retrieved her pyjamas rather absent mindedly and got dressed in a hypnotic fashion. She climbed into bed, her eyes tired and drooping and reached to turn out her bed light. A flicker of movement from the window caught her eye and delayed her action. She didn't think on it for long for her tired eyes longed for sleep and made her grasp the light's cord and pull it gently. Kikki was plunged into darkness. Before her tired eyes closed she thought she saw two round golden orbs shining out of the darkness of her window but she had no more time to investigate for her eyes simply gave way and closed allowing Kikki to slip into a tired slumber.

Chapter 6:

Kikki pulled her eyes apart and looked around the room. The sun had just begun to rise casting a dull light across the trees and rooftops. Kikki sighed and felt under her pillow for the photograph. She felt her stomach tighten painfully when she didn't feel the smooth texture of the photo under her fingers. Kikki threw off the pillow and gasped at the photo's absence. Immediately, Kikki slipped her feet into slippers and set about finding her photo. It was well after sunrise when Kikki finally was forced to accept the fact that her precious photograph was no longer in her bedroom.

Putting on a brave face, Kikki got changed and hurried towards Cafe Mew Mew where, hopefully, no-one would notice the redness of her eyes.

"Hey Kikki! You're later than usual. Something up?" asked Bridget as Kikki came into the kitchen.

"Nothing but the big, blue, magnificent sky, Bridget."

"Sure? You look a little, down."

Kikki sat down in a chair in the dining area and began to sob. Bridget sat beside her and made a vague attempt to comfort her. After a while of weeping, Kikki calmed enough to speak.

"M-m-my pho-photo." she said shakily.

"Yes? What about your photo?"

"F-favourite pho-photo. Gone. Disa-disappeared last night." Kikki began to cry again.

"How did it disappear?"

"D-dunno. Put it under p-pillow to keep s-safe. Woke up. G-gone."

"What was the photo of?"

"M-mum and d-dad. O-only one i've g-got."

"Ooh. Kikki. We'll help you find it. It can't've gone far. For now, cheer up okay? We don't want the customers seeing sad faces do we?"

"Guess not." Kikki sniffed and wiped her runny nose.

Corina, who had been at another table listening and drinking tea, turned around.

"Maybe Taruto stole it." she said.

"NO! Taru-Taru wouldn't steal something that special to me!!" Kikki cried.

"Kikki, you know just as much as anyone else does that Taruto hates you. Any chance to get you crying he'd take it."

Kikki shook her head. "You're wrong! Taru-Taru doesn't hate me! I'll prove it! You'll see!!" she got up and ran up the stairs to the bedrooms that were specially made for Wesley, Elliot and all the Mews should they decide to sleep there every now and again.

Kikki threw open the door to her room and pressed her tear streaked face into the yellow pillow to drown out the sound of her hysteria.

Through the window the little brown haired alien watched, a cruel grin across his cheeky face. In his left hand, he held a photo. The very photo Kikki had been sure he wouldn't take. The very photo she'd spent her morning looking for. The very photo over which she was crying over at this very moment.

Kikki rolled onto her back and raised her watery, swollen brown eyes towards the ceiling. She began to talk to herself in a vague attempt to calm herself down.

"Taru-Taru would never do that! He'd never take my photo! He wouldn't upset me! I've just lost it and i'll find it again soon. i can't believe Taru-taru'd take it. I won't believe he'd take it because he didn't! Corina just hates him! Ooh! I want my photo..."

Taruto frowned. This wasn't fun anymore. he'd had his laugh. He'd made her cry. Now he had to give the photo back. But if he did that, it would just make Kikki even more upset and that in turn would make battles boring and taruto hated things to be boring. He sat on a bough of a nearby tree and pondered over what to do. He clicked his fingers when he finally managed to think up an idea. It had its possible faults but it was all he had.

he went up to the window and prayed he wasn't as bad an actor as people claimed he was. After taking a deep breath, he knocked three times upon the window and watched.

Kikki heard the knock. She sat bolt upright and looked around. She looked at the wide open door and frowned. She looked at the window and the frown faded into a radiant beam. She wiped her eyes and raced over to the window and opened the window wide. She stood staring at the little alien with wide, happy eyes.

"I...uuuh..." Taruto struggled to find the right words that wouldn't make him too suspicious.

"Hi Taru-Taru. What's up?"

"I...uh...look, I found your stupid photo okay? Take it and please don't bother me!" he thrust the photo into kikki's hands and started to head towards the window.

Kikki glanced at the photograph and smiled with joy. She leapt towards taruto and captured him in a suffocating hug.

"Thank you thank you thank you Taru-Taru!!"

"Aargh! Get off me!! Get off!" Taruto wrenched himself free of kikki's hug and turned again to leave.

"You're not leaving yet are you? Don't you have something else to tell your girlfriend?" asked the sneering face of Kish who blocked his exit.

Taruto gulped. "Uh. Don't know what you mean."

"Don't you? Tell me, if Kikki had her photo in her room under her pillow, how did you happen to come into posession of it?"

"I..uh..what are you saying?" Taruto began to sweat.

"You know very well what I'm saying Taruto: Photo snatcher!"

"Pho-photo snatcher?" Taruto tried to sound asif he didn't know what Kish meant.

"yes. Photo Snatcher. You could've left the photo in Kikki's room for her to find if it is indeed true you found it but then how would you find it anywhere other than her room since no-one else took it out? Confession time Taruto, you took it from under her pillow."

"I...I did no such thing!" Taruto said, his voice trembling.

"But...Taru-Taru, how did you find it? It couldn't have left my room." Kikki's voice was full of despair and resigned sadness.

"I...I...I took it. I took the ruddy photo! You happy now? I've said it and i'll say it again! I took the stupid photo to make you cry! Don't you get it? I don't like you! Do I need to spell it out? I - Don't - Like - You! I'm outta here and the next time i see you I don't want you being friendly. I don't want you calling me that stupid name - in fact, I don't want you to talk to me ever again! You hear me right? Ever again!"

Taruto vanished leaving two baffled figures in the room. Kikki dropped to her knees and clutched the photo tightly and cried silently.

Kish stood over her and frowned. he'd realised he'd taken it too far. He sighed heavily and disappeared to find taruto.

Kikki curled into a depressed little ball and lay as low as she could on her floor. She cried as long as her energy lasted and fell into a tired sleep, tears still streaking down her little red face.

"Kikki? Kikki it's Lauren. you okay? Kikki?" Lauren walked into kikki's room and shivered at the rush of cold air from the wide open window. She walked over to close it but stopped in her tracks when she spotted the curled up, whimpering little figure on the floor.

She knelt down beside her and un curled Kikki's sleeping body. Something fell from one of her hands. Lauren picked it up and stared at it. It was a photograph. The photograph everyone was talking about downstairs. Lauren picked Kikki up and carried her downstairs and lay her on one of the comfy couches. Bridget came into the room. She spotted kikki lying on the couch and gasped. "Wha-what happened?"
"Bridget. Bring some hot chocolate. i think kikki's had a bit of a fright."
"Right." Bridget turned on her heel and went back into the kitchen.

Lauren looked back at the little monkey mew. This was really uncharacteristic for Kikki to have fallen asleep. Something definately wasn't right.

Kikki's hands started fumbling around in her sleep attempting to find something. Her eyes snapped open when what she was looking for wasn't there. She sat bolt upright and searched herself for her photo. She spotted Lauren and sat still, breathing quickly.

"My photo. I had it. Where's it gone?"

"Your photo? uh. It's here." Lauren gave Kikki the photo and sat back.

Kikki took it and held it tightly. Tears began rolling down her face again.

"I never thought he'd do it. I never believed it. I thought he liked me. But I was wrong. He hates me."
"Who hates you Kikki?"

"Taruto!" Kikki shouted. It sounded more like a cry out than an answer.

Lauren noticed Kikki had called him by his real name and not the nickname. it was then she realised that something must've happened.

"Taruto hates me and I never believed it but it's true. I never ever thought he'd want to upset me like this but it turns out that was his plan all along."

"How has he upset you kikki?"

"he stole my photo to make me cry. he stole it to make me worry. He stole it for his own enjoyment. he didn't think twice about how I'd feel and if he did he didn't care. He doesn't like me!"
"And you're sad about that?"

"Lauren. You don't understand. I wanted to be Taruto's friend. I wanted to be nice but he rejected everything. Now I'm facing consequences for trying to befriend him."
"Kikki. I do understand. i think I'm being a bit like Taruto at the moment."

Kikki stared at Lauren. "You do? How?"

"Taruto's rejecting all your attempts to befriend him right? Well, aren't I rejecting all of Kish's attempts to befriend me?"

"Yeah. I bet he probably cries himself to sleep at night."

"You do? Really?" Lauren started to feel bad at the thought of it.

"Yes. After all the attempts that are rejected I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up crying to himself. i don't mean to make you feel bad it's just that it's my opinion."

Lauren looked out the window. There was still light in the sky. She stood up and began to get her shoes on.

"Where are you going?" asked Kikki.

"Out."

"Where to?"

"Mount Hollow."
"Why?"

"i have business there."
"Is this the stuff you've been disappearing to do every day?"
"Yup. See you later Kikki." Lauren opened the door.

"Bye!"

Kikki watched lauren set off at a quick pace towards Mt Hollow. She sat back and thought to herself.

Bridget entered the room with two hot chocolates. She looked around.

"Where's Lauren?"

"Out."
"Did she say where?"
"No." Kikki lied.

"Oh. Okay. Well, I'll just have her chocolate then. here you go."

Bridget gave kikki one of the hot chocolates and sat down.

"Drink up." she said raising her cup to her mouth and taking a long sip.

Chapter 7:

Lauren ran as fast as her legs would go. She reached the path that led towards the tall looming mountain that lay ahead.

Instead of immediately following the path, Lauren turned to her right and fumbled around in the bushes for something. She caught hold of a strap and pulled. A heavy black bag emerged. Lauren heaved it onto her shoulders and began to walk towards Mt Hollow which got its name from scientific experiments which resulted in the fact that the mountain was hollow inside. Scientists tried and failed for decades to actually get inside the mountain and see the vast cavern within but all attempts failed. The tunneling machinery dug through for what seemed like forever, long passing the area of wall that scientists had believed was hollow.

Lauren stopped suddenly and stayed still. She had been sure there was sound there. She listened, straining her ears for sound. Whatever business Lauren had at mt Hollow with the items in the black bag was secret and no-one was to see it till the time was right.

Lauren released a long breath of air and began to walk again. By now, light was fading quicker and quicker as the sun sank behind the black silhouette of Mt Hollow and Lauren, keeping in the dark shadow of the mountain began to ponder over what she should start on first. She was in for a long night of work because now she was more determined than ever to get her work finished and the heavy weight across her chest removed.

The last of the sun's rays disappeared behind the mountain and lauren was plunged into darkness. Out of the corner of her eyes, lauren thought she saw two amber ovals shining out of the darkness a little to her left but she saw no more of them and as she came up to the part where a wall of stone erupted from the ground and formed the base of Mt Hollow, she groped for her torch, flicked it on and searched the rough rock for a large round boulder. She found it after walking a little right of the path and pushed with all her might until it shifted a little and revealed a small entrance to a long tunnel.

Lauren got down on her knees and pushed her black bag through the hole. Once that was done, she lay flat on her stomach and wriggled her way through into the tunnel.

She stood up and followed the tunnel by torchlight until it was no longer required. A dim pool of artificial daylight lit the tunnel. She rounded the corner and entered the vast hollow cavern of Mt Hollow - a place no human had ever seen before. A place only Lauren had the ability to reach.

She placed the torch back into her bag pouch and unzipped the bag. She pulled out the essentials and set to work.

Bridget paced back and forwards at the entrance to Cafe Mew Mew. Lauren hadn't returned the night before. No-one had seen her since she'd left for Mt Hollow which Kikki had kept a sworn secret from the others.

Bridget went back inside and headed straight towards Kikki.

"Kikki. You're sure Lauren didn't say where she was going last night?"

"She just said she was going out. No details." Kikki lied.

Bridget sighed. "I wonder where she's gone. I hope she's okay."
"She's probably away doing that 'stuff' she always disappears to. The stuff she never talks about."

"Do you have any idea what that is? Any idea at all?"
"Nope. Can't say I do."

Bridget looked out the window.

"Oh where can she be?"

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the window with concern written all over his paler than normal face.

"Have any of you seen Lauren? Please tell me you have. I've been looking everywhere!" he asked, his voice full of worry.

"Sorry, Kish. We haven't seen her either. She went out last night and she hasn't come back. " said Kikki.

Kish collapsed with exhaustion on a nearby chair and held his head in his hands.

"I saw her last night." He began. "she was heading towards Mount Hollow. I have no idea what business she'd have there at that time of night. No-one can even get inside it so it's not as if she was taking refuge inside for the night or anything-"

"Hold on. Did you say Mount Hollow? Why on Earth would she go there?" Bridget asked.

"That's where she's been going for the past month! She's working on something there!" Kikki exclaimed.

"How do you know?" asked Bridget growing cross.

"i...uh. She told me last night. Before she went out. After I made her feel bad about Kish probably crying to sleep at night!"

"Um. Kikki? Have you forgotten who else is here?" Bridget inclined her head towards kish, whose eyes were wide and interested.

"She felt bad about that?" he asked.

"yeah. I mean, you'd expect her to be happy she's making you cry but really, she didn't seem at all satisfied. She went all silent then she went out to Mt Hollow."

"Lauren!" Zoey cried from the cafe entrance.

Kish was up in a flash and like a bolt of lightning streaked out the room and into the entrance hall where Zoey was assisting a worn out, filthy Lauren up the steps.

Lauren opened her eyes when she was seated on one of the comfy chairs. The first thing she saw was Kish who was seated directly beside her. As she looked around she saw Kikki and Bridget sitting nearby.

"Lauren. What happened to you?" asked Kikki.

"I uh..got a little carried away."

"What with?"
"Stuff."
"What stuff?"
"It's not finished yet!" Lauren cried.

"What's not finished?" asked Bridget after an interval of silence.

"Can't say. Not finished."

Lauren's mind wasn't working right. Everything was swimming. Different emotions and thoughts swam in and out and caused Lauren's confusion.

"What isn't finished?"

"Won't say. Can't say! Not finished! Must finish! Must.."

Lauren's eyes slid closed and she fell to the side where she was caught by Kish who settled her into a comfier position on the couch.

Kikki and Bridget watched her. "I wonder what she wants to finish." said Bridget.

"Well, whatever it is, let her finish it. She's obviously determined."

Suddenly, without any warning, Lauren's eyes snapped open. She sat bolt upright and looked around.

"Nearly finished! Must get finished! Then the truth can get out!" Lauren stood up and ran out of the cafe.

Kish followed behind. "Lauren!" he called. "Lauren wait!!" He tried to catch up but his already tired out body couldn't go any farther. He fell to his knees and watched as Lauren made her way towards Mount Hollow.

"Must finish! Gotta finish! Not much longer! So happy!" Lauren cried as she ran. Without warning, Taruto materialized directly in front of her. " Hey!Watch it midget!!!" Lauren shouted crossly. "Busy! Don't get in my way! Going to finish!"

Taruto stared after her in shock. "What the..."

"Taruto!" cried kikki as she ran towards him.

"Why didn't you stop her?" she asked as she reached him.

"She was going something like one hundred miles an hour! How could i stop her? What's with her anyway?"

"i have no idea. I think she's totally lost it. "

"Hm. You might be right."

"Don't you have something to say to me?" asked kikki turning to the little alien.

"Hm? What like?"

"You know, starts with S and ends in Y?"

"Mm. Nope. Don't think I do have anything to say. Sorry."

"That's it!" cried Kikki.

"What is?" asked Taruto.

"You said it!"

"Said what? What are you on about?"

"You said sorry."
"So?"

"Do you even know why I wanted you to say that?"

"nope."

Kikki sighed. "I just thought you'd apologise for stealing my photo. Quess I was wrong."

"Yep. Really wrong."

"Why do you enjoy making people upset when they're trying to be nice to you?"

"Nice? You think calling me Taru-Taru and totally humiliating me in front of everyone is being nice?"
"I never call you midget. I never try to get you upset so why do you try to make me upset?"

Taruto shook his head. "You just don't get it do you?"
"I get enough. I don't care if you don't like me but I like you. You're cool. You're funny. You can do awesome things and you need a real friend. Not someone who says 'yeah whatever' and tells you to do everything but someone that'll help you out and do things with you. I'm not expecting a direct reply or anything. I think you just need time to figure things out. Here. You can have this. I don't want it." Kikki placed another round sweety into Taruto's hand and walked back towards the cafe. She stopped and looked back. "And..thanks for returning my photo...even though it was you who'd taken it." She smiled and continued walking.

Taruto looked down at the candy sphere in his hand and sighed. He popped it into his mouth and gasped as a flood of flavours made his mouth water. The candy melted in his mouth and left a lasting sensation at the tip of his tongue. The kind of sensation that makes you yearn for more.

Taruto watched Kikki close the cafe door behind her and sighed again.

Chapter 8:

Bridget saw Kikki come back into the cafe and went to talk to her. She found her sitting at the window watching for any sign of Lauren's return. Bridget sat beside her and joined her in her watch out the window.

"Do you really want to be Taruto's friend?"

"Yes. He probably thinks its some sort of joke but he's wrong. He doesn't like me."

"Kikki, maybe you ought to be a bit more like Kish."
"Kish? Why?"

"He's determined to get Lauren and I believe he's actually getting somewhere by being patient. Maybe you ought to be more patient with Taruto. Who knows? Maybe he'll change. So don't give up. mew Mews don't give up."

"Yeah. Mews fight to the end!" Kikki said confidently.

"That's the spirit! Keep it up okay? You're a tough little monkey! Full of life, energy, confidence and patience. Don't lose any of that."

Bridget looked out the window again. "Hey, looks like Kish is making his way towards Mt Hollow."

"Yeah. He's desperate to make sure Lauren's okay. Hey wait a minute..."

"What?" asked Bridget squinting to see what Kikki was looking at.

"Look! It's Lauren! She's coming back out of the mountain!"

"Yeah! That's a relief. I thought she'd zonk out again."
"Zonk out?" Kikki asked bewilderedly.

"Faint. She's been working hard on something. It's taken all her energy away."

"Oh. Right. Well, I don't know about that since she seems to be running."
"Running? Why? What from?" asked Bridget looking at Lauren who indeed was running at full speed.
"I don't think it's from anything. Maybe she's running to something."

"What do you think she's running to?"

"I dunno...Kish maybe?"

"Finally! Finally it's finished! Oh now I can finally get this awful weight off my chest." said Lauren as she ran with newfound energy.

Kish stood and watched her. His energy was completely gone. He wondered what she'd been doing at Mt Hollow. Something told him he ought to know. There was something about the mountain that he recognised from some other time. He was unsure of what.

As Lauren came speeding towards Kish she stretched out her hand and prepared to turn on her heel. Only a few more steps. When she was close enough, her out stretched hand grasped the hand Kish was using to rub his head. Once this was done, her feet changed direction and she began to run back towards Mt hollow, pulling him along behind.

Kish couldn't quite believe what was happening. He didn't quite think he was seeing right for what he could see was Lauren holding one of his hands and taking him somewhere. He blinked and looked again. Sure enough, Lauren was there pulling him along.

Another thing that shocked Kish was how he was starting to catch up with Lauren's speed. A surge of energy had filled him the second Lauren's fingers had grasped his.

He came up beside her and squeezed her hand ever so softly not too sure what the reaction would be. Lauren looked at him and smiled. He smiled back, slightly taken aback by this reaction.

"C'mon. We're nearly there. I really hope you like what you see. I've worked so hard on it." Lauren said, still smiling radiantly.

Kikki stood up. "What are you doing?" asked bridget.

"Following them. It's not every day Lauren grabs Kish by the hand to take him somewhere. Maybe they'll kiss!!"

"Oh! Be careful then!"

"Why?"
"Just in case there's any climbing."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks Bridget. See you later." Kikki called as she ran out the doors and set off in pursuit of the two figures that were still running towards Mt Hollow.

Kikki ran at maximum speed and was able to get close enough to still be able to hide and stay unnoticed.

She was at the mountain's base before she knew it. She scanned the mountainside for a cave entrance. She saw a small cave mouth a little way up. It looked like it had only just become a clear passage because a pile of rocks lay scattered on the ground directly below it.

Kikki climbed up onto a large round boulder and began to climb. If she'd just looked at her feet before climbing she'd have seen the small tunnel entrance Lauren had used.

The climbing started easily. Kikki found it easy to grab onto jutting out ledges and found great stable places to put her feet into. As she got higher, the climbing grew steadily harder. Decent ledges grew rarer and further apart and stable footholes became almost non existent. She was more than three quarters of the way there and she wasn't going to give up. The words Bridget had uttered remained fresh in her mind. "Mews don't give up."

Kikki grew overconfident as the going got easier for a moment and began to speed up. She reached for a stable looking ledge and placed her foot in a foothole. She stretched to reach the ledge. A crumbling sound began and Kikki realised the foothole was giving way. She made a vague attempt to reach the ledge but missed. She began to fall away from the mountain face and towards the ground below. Kikki closed her eyes and screamed. The wind whistled past her ears as she fell. Suddenly, the movement stopped as she felt something grab her outstretched arm. Kikki opened her eyes and looked up. "Taruto!" she cried when she recognised the face above her.

"you ought to know better than to climb a mountain without the correct stuff you stupid ape."

As if he already knew where to go, Taruto flew Kikki up to the ledge at the front of the tunnel entrance.

Kikki sat for a moment gathering her breath. "Why did you save me Taruto?" she asked.

"That candy thing was good. I know you've got more somewhere. You can't tell me where to find them if you're dead can you?"

"Well, no. I guess not. But Taruto, you get candy from shops. There are shops with big signs over them saying Candy Galore and stuff like that. Haven't you seen them? They have more candy and much yummier candy than i do."

"I know. i've been there before. I..uh...I just...um..." the little alien's face grew bright red.

Kikki giggled. "You just like my candy better don't you? I know why. It's older. Candy always tastes better with age-"
"No that's not it. Just never mind okay? Now are we going in this thing or not?"

"You're going in to?" asked Kikki growing excited.

"Yeah. There's something inside here. Something inside me tells me that I already know what. I can't be too sure. I'm going in." Taruto entered the tunnel and began to walk further in.

Kikki got to her feet and raced after him. "Wait for me!"

Chapter 9:

Lauren followed the tunnel as if she knew it like the palm of her hand turning every corner and knowing every twist and turn off by heart. Soon enough, light began flooding in from a source round the corner. Lauren stopped and turned to Kish who was staring at the light with interest.

"Close your eyes." Lauren told him.

"Huh?"

"Close your eyes, it's a surprise."
"Oh. Okay then."

Kish shut his eyes and, with no cheating peeks, was led by Lauren to the source of the light.

"Kish?"

"Yeah?"
"Welcome home. open your eyes."

Kish slowly opened his eyes and let his jaw drop in shock as the magnificent view before him unravvelled. Small sandstone buildings stood proudly in the valley below. A huge, crystal clear lake glistened in the artificial sunlight shining from the many large spheres of golden light which covered the high roof of the insides of Mount Hollow.

"How is that possible? It was all destroyed years ago. That's why we had to move out. It couldn't be like this unless...unless someone..." Kish turned to Lauren.

"Did you do all this?" he asked.

"Yes. It took me ages to do. I've only just finished."

"How did you find it in the first place?"

"Well, you remember that time last month when you kissed me right in front of my parents and they all really liked you? Well, after I ran away, I thought I needed time to think and I thought Mt Hollow was a good enough place. I sat up against that big boulder outside and it rolled away. I saw the tunnel and I followed it. When I came here it looked nothing like this. All these buildings were in ruins. If you look, they all look exactly the same which I'm sure they wouldn't have then. I copied their designs from the remains of buildings where details were clearer. There were skeletons everywhere so there's a burial ground on a mound near the lake. It wasn't just how bad it looked that made me want to fix it. I was wandering along the buildings and came across one that was actually quite well intact. The roof had gone and the front wall had fallen in but it was the best preserved. I went inside and looked at photographs on the wall that were still up. I must say I was surprised when I recognised the little kids in them as you and a really young Taruto. That was what really inspired me to fix everything." Lauren smiled again.

Kish smiled back, his heart blossoming just at the thought of finally making Lauren his.

"Are we there yet?" asked Taruto trying his best to get Kikki mad.

"No. But it shouldn't be much further I hope." replied Kikki cheerfully.

"Oh. Okay then...Are we there yet?"

Kikki laughed. "Relax, enjoy the nice scenery."

"oh yeah sure a rocky wall. wow! It's a rock. Oh is that moss? Wow. Gee this is really exciting - NOT! What do you take me for? An idiot?"

"No. I was just joking around." said Kikki through laughter.

"Yeah. It was really funny."

"And you're being really sarcastic."

"Hold on...was that sarcasm or...?"

Kikki laughed again. "Silly Taruto. C'mon. I think I see light up ahead."

Lauren wandered through the maze of identical houses trying to remember which was the one she wanted to go to. Even though all the houses were identical, from memory alone Kish was able to name the old inhabitants.

"...And Taruto lived with mum next door to me. here, once you turned 5 you got your own house. it was really great."
"Hold on. Taruto lived with your mum?"
"Yes. It's really embarassing. I prefer to say we aren't related but i guess I can't hide from it forever can I?"

"Taruto's your brother? I do not believe it!"
"No-one else will either. They also wouldn't believe that he liked being called Tiddums and Tartikins but he did! I swear he did!"

"you're kidding!" said Lauren bubbling up with laughter.

Kish shook his head. Lauren laughed at the thought of a little taruto prefering to be called a kiddy name.

"But now he's really embarassed about it so whenever someone calls him a name that isn't Taruto he gets all mad." Kish continued.

"So that's why he hates Kikki calling him Taru-Taru isn't it?"

"Yeah. To him, Taruto's his name and he's not going for anything else."

"Here we are!" said Lauren returning from one of the houses after checking it out. "C'mon in."

Kish stepped into the little house and immediately got that feeling of nostalgia as memories of his free youth swamped him. He stood rooted to the spot as his memories overcame him. Lauren looked back at him concerned. "Kish? You okay?"

Kish snapped out of his trance and shook his head. "Huh? Yeah. Fine. Sorry."

"What was up with you anyway? You looked in some kind of trance or something."
"Yeah. Just memories. And...speaking of that," Kish walked over to the little bed in the corner and got to his knees. He reached his hand under the bed that had once been his and felt for something. He found it quickly but that's not surprising due to the length of Kish's arm compared to the width of the bed.

He sat up and blew away years old dust that clouded the air around him until it settled and turned things a musty brown colour.

Kish sat on the bed and jumped as it creaked loudly.

"Oh yeah. Forgot it did that." Kish said as he gestured for Lauren to join him.

She sat down and, after waiting for the creaking to stop, began to look at the worn out looking book Kish held in his hands.

"What is that exactly?" asked Lauren curiously.

"This? It's my diary. I kept one when I was here. We had to leave in such a hurry that I forgot to take it with me. There's a particular part in it I want to show you. I think you might just be amazed. Let me find it first..."

Kish opened the book. It's spine creaked ,the pages rustled and at some points, with extreme care, pages had to be peeled away from other pages. Halfway through the diary, pages contained little illustrations and the writing became clearer and easier to read. The pages were in better condition as Kish reached the best protected part of the book. He stopped at a page with a lot of writing on it. An excited scrawl on closer observation. Kish did not turn the page after this one. he stayed on it and scanned it quickly checking that it was the correct entry. He smiled and passed the book carefully over to Lauren. "Here it is. Read both pages. It was quite a big thing."

Lauren began to read the entry. The writing was very easy to read being quite like her own. The entry read:

Dear Diary,

It's 3 in the morning. I've just woken up. I've been having the same dream for the past month! I have no idea what it means. At least it's not a nightmare. It's a nice dream. It's got me in a few years. I must be about 12 and I don't believe how tough I look! There's this really nice girl in the dream too. She's got brown hair and I know I'm not supposed to fall in love with dream people but I don't think I can help it. She just looks so nice! Anyway, the older me loves her. I can tell. You don't stare at someone like that and say you're just friends. She loves me too. I think her name was Lauren. she's some sort of thing called a Mew Mew whatever that is. The funny thing is she doesn't look like a Cyniclon. She's got a kind of pinky skin and she's got little round ears and blue eyes. Blue!! Beautiful deep blue eyes! She isn't a cyiniclon. She's a human. Entirely different race. In the dream, right at the end, me and Lauren kiss and it looks so cool! There's something about this dream. Like it's not a dream but a vision of the future! Something big's going to happen here. I sense something big and bad. I wonder if that's a vision as well. I hope that girl does exist. I so want to meet her in person! Until then. I'll keep dreaming of her!

5 in the morning! Woken up again! But this time it was an Earthquake! It's actually 7 now. People's houses are ruined. Some are even dead! It's scary seeing dead people. They're so still. There've been tons of earthquakes since 5. A mountain outside is spurting hot red stuff and there's a strong wind outside that looks like an upside down cone. It's raining and snowing heavily. I hear booms and crashes of the thunder and lightning. I want it to stop so we can build everything again but mum says we've got to go away and find a new planet. We'll never find one as good as this one. That's why we'll all come back! And I'll meet that girl here! We'll all come back and we'll all be happy. Everything will be happy. Yet I wonder why my older self looks so pained and sad. I sense he misses everyone but how can he if we all come back?... Uh oh! Another shake!! Must go!!

Lauren closed the diary and stared at the wall in front of her thinking things through. She turned to Kish who was watching her.

"You dreamt about me before you knew me." she said.

"Yes. And when I saw you that day in the park when we first met i recognised you instantly. I'd still been having those dreams. They comforted me at night in that awful underground dungeon of a so called planet we were forced to call home. It was just me and Taruto that went there. Mum died in the earthquake at the end of that entry. So all I had left as hope were the possibilities of returning and meeting you. I must say, that was a big help. if I didn't have that to strive for I'd have probably given up hope altogether."

"Kish. There's something I still don't get. You cyniclons were here millions of years ago yet why do you not seem a day over twelve? How can time on Earth have gone by with out you aging?"

"Good question. When we left Earth, it was really unstable. That was all because some stupid meteor crashed and knocked the Earth out of balance. When we got to the new planet, Earth was spinning 100 times faster on its axis. That must have sped up time. Our temporary planet spins slowly so time passed normally for us. Earth's only just gone back to spinning normally last year. Did you not feel as though life went by too quickly?"
"Now you mention it, yes. School days were much faster than 6 hours. And sleeping time was just too fast."

"We returned because we thought that if the Earth's spinning had calmed down then everything else would have calmed down. I know every now and again there's a tornado somewhere or an earthquake elsewhere but I guess that's life and we have to live in it."
"Yeah. Guess you're right." Lauren was still lost in thought. She wasn't really listening. Her mind was thinking about what she'd just read. So long ago and Kish had still known her. This all explained the fuzzy images Lauren used to get in her dreams. A mix of colour and blurred shapes not unlike those of Kish who had slipped the diary back under the bed and was at the doorway staring out remembering things from years long since passed.

Lauren joined him at his side. She looked up at the high walls and watched the little shining spheres in the ceiling dart to and fro relighting the ones that had burned out.

She looked down from that and saw a large wide jutting out egde with a little cave entrance. Lauren pointed at it. Kish followed the gaze.

"I have a feeling that'll have a magnificent view." said Lauren.

"Yeah. I think it does. Have you ever figured out how to get to it?"

"No. I was too busy fixing this place up to look for other tunnels that lead up there. It must be somewhere on the mountainface. I've just not looked."

"Well who needs tunnels when you can take the scenic route?"

Lauren looked at Kish in a what-do-you-mean sort of way.

"Flying!"

Grasping Lauren quickly around the waist, Kish shot into the air and began to fly higher and higher in a rising circle.

Lauren watched the ground below get further away and more of the indoor valley unravel.

When Lauren's feet touched ground she found herself much higher up than she'd expected to go. She was not too far away from the spheres of light and could see everything on the ground below. The majestic glistening of the lake and the enchanting land of indoor trees bewitched Lauren and made her want to stare at it forever. She and Kish dangled their legs off the dangerously high cliff edge and watched it together.

The time passed by quickly. To create an air of sunset, a large amber sphere sank low and continued to sink lower. Its light cast long shadows and an orange haze across the valley. Taking this precious moment as an opportunity not worth wasting, Kish moved himself closer and closer to Lauren. So far so good, she hadn't moved away. Kish moved closer until his shoulder was right next to Lauren's. He turned his head to look at her and smiled. He really loved Lauren. He'd do anything and everything to get her to return the feelings. It seemed his goal of finally making her his was drawing nearer and nearer to the success section. In fact, it seemed he was already there. But he needed to know and there was only one way he was going to do that.

He took a long reassuring breath and raised his hand towards Lauren's chin. He turned her head to face him and was met by a knowing smile. There was a glint in Lauren's eyes that welcomed Kish's gaze. Slowly, he edged his face forwards until the only gap seperating the two faces wasn't even enough for a sheet of paper to fit through. Unable to hold back any more, Kish closed the almost non-existent gap and the two figures were sealed in the first proper kiss they'd ever shared, in the light of a relatively accurate though artificial sunset.

"OH MY GOD!! WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!!??" screamed a familiar voice.

Lauren practically jumped out of her skin and held on to Kish tightly to calm down. The two of them looked towards the cave mouth where a little alien stood staring at what he'd seen before him.

"Aw Taruto, you stopped them! That was a really cute scene!" Kikki ran out of the little cave entrance and stood next to taruto whose mouth was hanging open as if it was unable to close.

"What are you gaping at?" asked Kikki.

"Two things: Them!" Taruto pointed at Kish and Lauren who were on their feet now. "And that!" Taruto's finger pointed at the vast cavern valley.

Kikki followed the finger and she too lost control of her jaw.

"W-where are we?" she asked.

"It's where I was born!" said Taruto proudly.

"It's also where mum died you jackass." snapped Kish, not at all happy at his kiss being interrupted.

"Mum?" asked kikki. "Are you brothers or something?"

Taruto went a bright scarlet colour when Kish nodded in reply.

"Cool! I always noticed the way you two tease each other. Sibling rivalry! Now I get it!"

Kikki walked right up to the edge of the cliff and gazed upon the valley below.

"And this was your home? It rocks!"

Chapter 10:

Lauren and Kikki's Mew senses started tingling. Instinctlively, Lauren backed away from the edge. The second she did that, the ground began to shake violently and bits of the ledge started falling into the valley along with loose rocks from the cave's ceiling. They fell and landed on some of the village houses, ruining them once again.

The shaking was too much for kikki who lost her balance and was sent cascading down the cliffside. She saw the ground coming closer fast. She closed her eyes and prepared for impact...but it never came. Kikki opened her eyes and realised that she was flying back up towards the crumbling ledge. When her feet touched the unstable ground she looked around for her rescuer. Her eyes fell on Taruto who had tried to sneak away from her.

"Ack! You saw me!" he cried.

"Taruto! You saved me!"

"So what if I did? Lesson number two: never stand on cliffs when the cave's having a cave in."

"Yeah. And a lesson for you: Don't go shouting in an unstable cave, thus causing the cave in that we now need to escape from!" Lauren snapped at Taruto.

"Okay! Okay! Sorry!!" Taruto waved his hands in an i'm-innocent-don't-look-at-me sort of way.

"We need to get out of here before we become flat pancakes!" cried Kikki.

"Yeah. C'mon! Back through this tunnel!" Taruto grabbed Kikki by the arm and began pulling her down the tunnel.

Lauren looked down on the once beautiful valley which now, for the second time in history, was caving in on itself destroying everything she'd worked so hard to fix.

Kish squeezed her hand and pulled gently. Lauren followed him down the tunnel and didn't dare look back at the wreck behind.

Boulders fell and very nearly hit them as they ran as fast as they could towards the place where they saw light flooding in from.

kish saw a large boulder in the tunnel's roof near the exit start to dislodge itself. If they weren't quick enough, it would fall and trap them in the cave. They ran faster, pushing their legs to their limits but it still wouldn't be fast enough.

Kish dropped behind and secured a safe hold around Lauren's waist. Lauren felt her feet leave the ground. Wind whistled past her ears and the rush of air stung her eyes. the tunnel exit drew nearer and nearer. The boulder dislodged more and more. They were nearly out! A few more seconds! 5...4...3...2...1!!

The natural sunlight dazzled Lauren's eyes as it suddenly filled them. The natural breeze whipped her hair. Fresh air filled her dust-choked lungs. They'd made it outside!

Lauren's feet touched solid ground and she turned to look at Mt Hollow. From the outside, you'd have never known that there was a once prosperous civilisation inside. A civilisation forced out years ago leaving the ruins of their lives behind. The ruins which were recovered, rebuilt and restored only to suffer the same fate that had ruined them once before.

The cave entrance Lauren and Kish had just flown from was not visible. The boulder had fallen and blocked the entire cave off. The small entrance at ground level had also suffered from a cave in and was also sealed off.

The cavern was now totally cut off from the world outside. With no accessable passageways inside its destiny would be to lie forever ruined, gathering dust and remaining unknown by those who'd had the misfortune not to see it at its best...

Lauren heaved a sorrowful sigh and sat down on a nearby boulder. Her legs hurt from running. Her arms hurt from the past month she'd spent building up the village again. Everything was in agony and it had all been for nothing. No! No it hadn't been for nothing. Now Lauren knew more about the history of Mt Hollow's inhabitants of old. She knew exactly what had ruined the lives of them. She'd learnt that kish had known her long before she was born and above all, she'd lifted the terrible weight of denial off her chest and had accepted the fact that she was indeed in love with Kish as much as he was with her.

She smiled into herself and looked around. She saw Taruto and Kikki land nearby. They too were looking at Mt Hollow.

"You know. I deserve a truck load of candy for saving your sorry butt three times in a row." Taruto said, his mouth watering at the thought of all that candy.

"No." Kikki said.

Taruto glared at her. "What do you mean 'no'? I deserve more than nothing for saving you you selfish little-"

"Yes." Kikki spoke again.

Her face had no trace of amusement across it. It was serious and she wore a kind of I-know-what-I'm-talking-about expression.

Taruto scratched his head in frustration.

"What do you think you're playing at saying no and yes? I deserve candy and I'm getting lots of it!!"

"That's for sure! I said no to the truck load and yes to the fact that you deserve more than nothing. What that means is that you don't deserve a truckload of candy-"

"Why you-" Taruto began angrily.

Kikki held up her hand to silence him.

"You don't deserve a truckload of candy, you deserve to take your pick out of my entire candy collection. That's bigger than three truckloads. I had to build my own underground cellar to keep it all!"

Taruto's mouth dropped. Kikki's entire collection? Just for saving her?

"Y-you'll let me take my pick of candy from your entire collection which is the bigger than three truckloads just because I saved you a few times??"

"No silly! Not just because of that!" Kikki laughed.

"okay. What then?"

"because I think you're my friend Taru-Taru!"

Taruto turned away and walked in a small circle. He stopped and felt in his shorts. He felt the bump he was looking for and took it out. He looked at it and recognised it as the little red wrapped candy sphere Kikki had given him that night up the tree. He sighed and walked back towards Kikki, his head hung low.

"Here," he said holding the candy sphere out.

Kikki looked at it. "But Taru-Taru, I gave you that as a present. I can't take it. Why are you giving it back?"
"I'm giving it back because I...I want to make it up to you."
"Make it up to me? For what Taru-Taru?"
"For stealing your photo. I shouldn't have done that. It was...wrong and...and I'm sorry." He hung his head lower and held the candy sphere further out.

Kikki stood silent for a moment. She looked at the candy sphere and then to Taruto. The biggest smile she'd ever worn broke out across her face. Her big brown eyes lit up and sparkled like stars as she took the little red sphere out of Taruto's hand and held it tight.

There was silence again. In the lack of noise, Taruto raised his head to look around. He saw Kikki holding the little candy ball as if it was one of the most precious things she'd ever been given. Her brown eyes were streaming with tears which flooded down her little red cheeks. For the first time in his life, Taruto wasn't thrilled at watching the tears roll down Kikki's cheeks. He felt guilty. Kikki wouldn't be crying if he hadn't taken the photo in the first place. As always, it was all his fault. This time however had been different. He'd really felt like making it up to the little monkey mew but hadn't been able to find a way to do it. During his brainstorms of ideas to make it up to Kikki, he'd realised something. He'd realised why it was he could watch anyone else cry but not Kikki. He realised he couldn't stand back and laugh at her when she cried. For a while he'd wondered why and up till just then - when he gave Kikki back the candy - he'd still been blind to the truth. Blind to the truth he'd hidden that night on the balcony. Truth he covered up so much even he forgot what was true or false. Taruto realised he'd been wrong about a lot of things. Things he'd forgotten about. He realised he'd lied to cover up those things and only now was everything coming clear. Like a storm clearing to reveal bright blue skies.

Taruto had said some rotten things. Those things he now regretted. Now, standing watching Kikki cry, he felt he had to do something. Something that, somewhere hidden inside, he'd been longing to do since he'd first made her cry. he knew what he had to do. The only problem was that he didn't know where to start.

He took a deep breath and raised his head and shoulders higher. Out of nervous tension, he scratched the back of his head and coughed.

Kikki stopped crying. She opened her eyes and stared at Taruto. "Yes Taru-Taru? You sound like you have something to say."
Taruto remained silent.
Kikki bowed her head. "I must be imagining things then.."
"No! No I didn't say that! Aw man! How the heck do i do this?"

"Do what Taru-Taru?"

"I...uuhh..." Taruto struggled to find words to speak.

"Yeah! Great going Taruto. You're really messing this up! Just say something! Anything !just don't say something stupid!" He thought to himself.

"I...I..uhh..." He stared at Kikki.

She stood alone and seemed enclosed within herself. That was it!! He had to do something!!

He stood and prepared himself with as much breath as he could muster, for what was coming next was going to need a lot of breath, strong ribs and a secure spine, if it went as planned.

he opened his arms out wide and grinned.

"Aw what the heck! Come here you pathetic little monkey!"

Kikki gaped momentarily at the smiling alien before jumping towards him and capturing him in her own embrace while he proceeded with his.

"Thank you! Thank you Taru-Taru!! This means we're friends now right?"

Taruto remained silent for a moment. he was allowing his thoughts to clarify before he answered. Kikki loosened her hold on him and looked him straight in the eyes. "Taruto?"

"No," He answered finally. "Not friends."

"Oh..." Kikki looked down.

"Best Friends!!" Taruto continued, his smile wide and glistening.

Kikki looked back up, her eyes bright and happy. "You mean it? You really really mean it?"
"Yep! Sure do!"

Kikki and Taruto began to laugh. Lauren smiled at the two of them. Kish did the same. He looked at Lauren and his smile grew wider. Lauren realised he was watching her and turned to face him. "I guess Taruto was being a bit like me." She said.

"Mm? How?"

"We both had something to hide. Taruto secretly liked kikki and I..." Lauren broke off and began to blush furiously.

Kish grinned. "And you what?"

"Do I really need to tell you?" Lauren laughed.

"Probably not, I just want some clarification."

"Okay fine. It's about time I said it anyway," Lauren looked directly into Kish's enchanting amber eyes and smiled. "Kish..." She began.

"Yes, Lauren?" Kish smiled, already knowing what was to come.

"I love you." Lauren threw her arms around him and they too were captured in each other's loving embraces. As they pulled apart, for the first time in her entire life, Lauren pressed her lips against Kish's and sealed the two of them in a kiss only days earlier, Lauren had said would never come. A kiss that Lauren started. A kiss that was so much more than something of affection. It was a sign. A signal. A clarification. A reassurance. It was a kiss that sealed the two hearts together forever till the end of time and beyond. It was a kiss both Kish and Lauren had been longing to give since the day they'd met.

Taruto and Kikki watched them. cheeky smiles spread across their faces.

"You don't think we'll be like that one day do you Taru-Taru?" asked Kikki growing red at the thought of it.
"...I don't think so but then again I didn't think I'd end up being your friend so I guess it's possible. I guess..when you're a Cyniclon or a Mew Mew..anything's possible."

"Yeah. i suppose what they say really is true. Opposites do attract."
"Yup. They sure do."

"Wanna go get some ice-cream Taru-Taru?"
"Ice-cream? Yeah!"

"c'mon!"

Kikki grabbed Taruto by the hand and began to race towards the place where the melodic tune of the ice-cream van could only just be heard over the excited squeals of other kids who, for the first time all summer, were able to go to the van without worrying about a monster. This day had been Predasite free..but there was always tomorrow. And with that tomorrow, new adventures awaited the Mew Mews and the Cyniclons as atop the Library a dark figure shifted in his sleep and the time grew closer and closer for Grand master Deep Blue to awaken and unleash his horrible wrath upon the peoples of the Earth who went about their daily routines and their happy little lives unaware that soon..very soon..everything they'd ever known would be turned upside down as the Mew Mews face their toughest ever challenge...