Chapter One:

It had been a bad day when the moment of truth came.

Pie had had longer periods of consciousness over the next week, though he still slept a lot. Every time he was examined by one of the Healers and awake, he always asked when the bandages were going to be removed from his eyes. He was always told 'soon'. Now the Healers were walking into the room, and telling him that it was time for them to be removed.

He was glad that the bandages were finally being removed. But something didn't feel quite right.

He had a feeling something was up when he heard Curry whisper to Kish, Rirī and Tart to take Rōzu and Éclair for a walk. He had protested, saying that he wanted to see his siblings.

The room had become deathly quiet at that point. Curry had muttered to the older three to go and they ushered their younger sisters out.

Pie had begun to panic. He was not one to panic or show emotion at all, but he felt like if there was an appropriate time to drop that, it was then. He turned his head in various directions to where he knew Rin and his parents were.

"I do not understand," He said. "What is wrong?"

"Pie," Risa whispered sadly, taking her son's hand, Rin taking the other. She took a deep breath and said, "I am so sorry, sweetheart. I am so sorry."

"I do not understand," Pie repeated, now angry instead of panicked. What weren't they telling him? "What is wrong?"

"Pie," Rin had whispered as she leaned her forehead against his shoulder.

No one needed to say it out loud.

He had heard it perfectly in his sister's thoughts.

He froze, trembling.

"This, this cannot be," He muttered. "I cannot be—"

"We still do not know if you are or are not," The Healer said soothingly. "We will not know for certain until we remove the bandages."

Pie wished this hadn't been said. Wished that his hopes hadn't been gotten up.

He sat perfectly still, not even shivering as he felt the cold metal of the blunt side of the scissors slide down his skin, cutting away the bandages. He followed every instruction, shielding his face with his hand, keeping his eyes closed until he was told to open them, relaxing as the Assistant Healer cleaned his eyes with a damp washcloth, not flinching. His heart was racing, his pulse thundering in his elven ears as the Healer said,

"You can open your eyes now."

He opened his eyes slowly, blinking a few times, looking up, hoping to see the faces of his mother, father and twin, their smiles when he saw them. Rin would hug him and laugh and kiss his cheek. His mother would breathe a sigh of relief and wrap her arms around him. His father would ruffle his hair and then go fetch his other siblings so that he could be attacked with their hugs.

But instead he only saw darkness.

Blackness.

Nothingness.

It was gone. In a large flash of light and a loud boom, everything was gone.

He wouldn't ever see his mother's smile again. His father's mischievous grin. The glimmer Kish got into his eyes as he came up with a plan to prank someone. The twinkling in Rin's eye as they simultaneously came up with the same idea. He would never know what Tart would look like when puberty was finished with him. What his sisters looked like in their wedding gowns or the men they would marry. He wouldn't be able to say who his nieces and nephews took after more. He couldn't spar hand to hand with Rirī. He couldn't read stories to Éclair at bedtime. He couldn't see one of Rin's finished drawings. He couldn't watch Rōzu as she was tested for the Military Academy. Couldn't teach Tart how to pilot a spaceship, the plans they had made to do so merely days before the accident obliterated. Couldn't sit and play chess with Kish anymore, testing both of their strategic skills. He wouldn't again see the planet he had fought so hard to save, read the books he loved, work on any more experiments.

And…

He would never see her again.

The green-haired Mew Mew whom he and his brothers fought while on Earth, who strived for there to be peace between the two races.

The girl that continuously popped into his mind for reasons it took time—an almost embarrassing length of time—to realize why.

He wasn't sure who coined the phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder" but they weren't wrong. Because it took the past two years for him to realize he loved her, and for that love to continue to increase with every wayward thought.

Lettuce.

But now… Now it was all gone.

He would never be able to lay eyes on those he cared about the most.

And he would never be able to get any his sight back. Ever.

"Oh, Pie," Rin had whispered, tears running down her face. She reached her hand out to cup her brother's cheek, but he turned away, blocking her out of his mind, severing his connection with her.

"Leave me alone," He whispered. "Just leave me alone."

"Pie," Rin whispered again, but her father put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at her father, who swallowed hard and nodded.

Choking back a sob, Rin stood up, kissing Pie's cheek before leaving. Curry helped Risa out of the room after she gave Pie a kiss on the cheek as well. The Healers left as well. They were all painfully aware that there was nothing they could do.

Pie laid there in the darkness and the silence. He closed his eyes and there was darkness. He opened his eyes, and it was still there. Unwavering. Not a single speck of light peeked in.

"Why?" He whispered, reaching up to touch the corner of his eye.

"Why?" He said in a louder whisper, gripping the blankets around him.

"Why?" He asked himself again, louder this time as he felt his anger, his grief, his pain begin to bubble over.

"WHY ME?" He finally shouted at the silence, taking his head in his hands, letting the tears flow, trying to curl up on his side as much as his other injuries would allow.

In the hall, Rin crumpled to the floor on her side, sobbing. She tried to push against the mental barriers Pie had put up, trying to get in to comfort him, to ease his pain, but he kept pushing her back.

Pie, Pie, please…

Go away, Rin.

Pie-

JUST LEAVE ME ALONE RINDOU!

Rin looked up to see her mother kneeling beside her.

"This, this is something that, as much as we do not like it, it is something Pie has to come to terms with on his own," Risa said, tears running down her own cheeks. Rin threw her arms around her mother and they both sobbed, Curry wrapping his arms around both of them.

Some hours later, Pie finally lowered his shields. Rin knew he had finished his grieving for the moment and was ready to let others in. Quietly and carefully, she entered the room, kneeling beside him as he stared blankly up at the ceiling.

"It's going to be okay, you know," Rin said, stroking his arm. "The Healers say that your chances of recovery are very high. You'll need some physical therapy, but that's all."

"Except that I am blind," Pie said. He winced. It was the first time he had said the word out-loud. Doing so made it feel so final, unchangeable.

"It'll take time, but you'll adjust," Rin said, clasping his hand. "Yes, there are things you can't do, but there are still many more things you can do. So, will you at least try?"

Pie hesitated, but then he slowly nodded. Rin smiled and hugged him.

"Don't worry," She whispered into his ear. "We're all going to be right beside you, every step of the way."

"Why am I not surprised to hear that?" Pie asked, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

The next morning, a young Healer with straight blond hair and big green eyes entered the room and introduced herself as Tali Nukata, one of the physical therapy Healers at the hospital. After pleasantries were exchanged, Tali asked to speak with Pie alone and the other Ikisatashis left, with some grumbles from Rin.

Tali sat at the foot of Pie's bed and folded her arms over her chest, studying the young man before her. She shook her head, despite knowing he couldn't see the action.

"I honestly have no idea how you are still alive," Tali said. "But you are. And you are going to recover. It will not be an easy journey, but it will happen."

Pie nodded.

"When do we start?" He asked.

She smiled and chuckled some.

"You're eager, I like that," She said. "As soon as your legs are completely healed, and that is not too far away from what I'm told. You have another surgery scheduled in a few days and then sessions in the medpod. And that's just your legs, we haven't even begun to focus on your other injuries. You've got a deep slice in your abdomen, lots of burns, busted ribs. Those have to heal, too. We'll give it a few days for everything to finish settling then we will start with things like standing and walking."

"Until then?" Pie asked.

"Until then, you heal. We start with small things. Have you been able to sit up on your own?"

Pie nodded.

"Not for any great length of time, though," He said.

"That's fine, like I said, this is going to be slow." Tali said. She frowned as Pie frowned ever so slightly, so fast she would have missed it if she blinked. "You're not used to this, going slow."

"No," Pie admitted.

Tali sighed some.

"They told me as much as they could about you," She said. "Even 220 IQ. You and your twin sister were requested to design and construct weapons at a young age. At age eight, you two were recruited for other… assignments. Yeah, yeah, I know, classified information, they gave me that whole lecture too. At sixteen, you were selected for the Earth mission along with your brothers, coming back with Mew Aqua. Since day one, everything has been somewhat easy for you. You haven't faced a challenge like re-learning to walk, how to see without your eyes. Things like that won't come overnight. It's a slow process, one that will only work if you have patience. Yes, it's a fight. More than a fight, a war. I know you've already fought one of those."

"And lost," Pie said, but not with any bitterness. He had to give credit to the humans and Mew Mews for fighting so hard, somehow able to defeat everything that he and his brothers had thrown at them. To some extent, he was impressed after the first few battles he had with the five girls. However, that quickly turned to frustration, and then, when the dust had settled of the final battle, he could again reflect on the prowess of his opponents. It had been a terribly long time since he had faced someone like them.

As Tali said, he hadn't had a challenge like the one he was currently facing before. Everything was easy up till then.

But he had thought the same up until he met Tokyo Mew Mew.

Besides, if the way his planet was now, how his people were now, was the result of losing a war, he'd gladly fight in a dozen more and lose every time.

"And lost," Tali repeated, a small smile. "But this is one you're going to win. Can't take it down in one go. You have to take your victories as they come. It's going to be frustrating, especially in the beginning. The only thing I'm truly going to ask of you is to be patient, not only with me, but with yourself. The more you push yourself, the more likely you're just going to hurt yourself all-over again."

Pie didn't respond for a moment, thinking over everything she had said, but then he nodded.

"I will try my best to be patient," He said. "However, I will warn you that patience has never been one of my virtues."

"Well, then it's good that I've got enough to spare, now isn't it?" Tali said with a grin.

With Pie's permission, she performed an assessment of his injuries, mumbling to herself occasionally and pausing frequently to make notes.

"It will still be a few weeks until it will feel like we've made any progress," Tali said at last. "But I think we can start now, if you're up to it."

"Yes," Pie said, starting to work on sitting up.

"You don't have to sit up unless you want to," Tali said. She took both of his hands in hers. "All I want you to do is squeeze my fingers as hard as you can."

Pie did so. After a few seconds, she told him to stop. After a few more seconds, she told him to do it again. They repeated this pattern for a few minutes.

"This was really great," Tali said. "The muscles in your fingers are still very stiff, because they haven't been able to do movements like that in a while. Here, I want you to keep hold of this."

Pie heard the sound of something materializing and then Tali took his hand and held it palm up. With her other hand, she placed a soft sphere into his hand before curling his fingers around it.

"This way, you can do the exact same thing we just did whenever you feel up to it, or are bored, just with this ball instead of my hands. Or, hey, if you get desperate, throw it at someone!" Tali said cheerfully.

"I would probably miss by a mile," Pie said dryly. Tali laughed gently.

"You'd only get better aim each and every time," She said "If you want, you can practice your aim with me."

"Can I assume then that you will be coming by frequently?" Pie asked.

"Once a day, at least," Tali said. "I may not be able to stay as long as I did today every time, but I'll come. Sometimes it'll just be to see you and touch base, but most of the time it'll be for a longer session."

"Thank you," Pie said.

"Hey, don't thank me yet," Tali said as she got to her feet. "You haven't even gotten a chance to have a day where you absolutely hate my guts."

"Why would I hate your guts?" Pie asked, confused.

Tali laughed.

"You'll see," She said cryptically. "They all do eventually."

And, with that, she said her good-byes and left, leaving Pie to wonder just what he had gotten into.

Tali closed the door, still chuckling to herself. She spoke briefly with Risa and Curry before starting down a hall, when she heard from behind her:

"Nukata-San?"

She looked around to see Pie's six siblings standing there. They were all staring at her, the older ones almost curiously. They all looked tired, and a bit sad. Sad, but also hopeful. Tali knew that while this accident and its result was extremely hard and painful for Pie, it was also so for his family.

"You're gonna make Pie Onii-Chan all better, right?" Éclair asked, her arms wrapped around Kish's leg.

Tali smiled and nodded.

"Of course I am," She said. "Pie'll be back on his feet before you know it. It may take some time, but it'll happen."

To her surprise, all six Ikisatashis bowed before saying simultaneously:

"Please take care of Onii-Chan."

Tali bowed in response, giving her a chance to hide her teary eyes, moved by the action.

"I will," She said. "But I'm going to need some help."

"What do you mean?" Tart asked, confused.

"I mean, I'm going to need all of you to help me help Pie," Tali said. The siblings glanced at each other, clearly confused.

"But only Rirī and Éclair are training to be Healers," Kish grumbled. "The rest of us are useless."

"No, you're not," Tali said. "And I didn't mean I needed help as a Healer. I need your help as Pie's brothers and sisters."

"Still not following…" Rirī said.

"Pie has a long road of recovery ahead of him. I know that, he knows that, now I am making sure you all know that," Tali said. "There'll be good days, and there'll be bad days. Pie will need all the love, support and encouragement you can give regardless of whether the day is for better or for worse. Can you all do that for me?"

All six nodded.

"We can do that!" Rōzu said with a grin. Tali smiled again.

"Arigato," She said. Her eyes twinkled. "I have a feeling I will be seeing all of you in the near future."

A few weeks later, Rin arrived at the hospital a little on edge. It had been the first time that Pie had been left alone at night. Pie was completely fine with the idea, as was Risa and Curry, the Healers and Assistant Healers. It was Rin who was paranoid. The Healers all promised her that they would contact the Ikisatashis if something was wrong, and Pie reminded her of their mental connection, something he regretted as she checked on him every ten minutes. Finally, somewhere around midnight, Pie told her good-night and cut her off so that he could get some sleep.

Rin hastily walked down the hall, stopping at the desk.

"Everything went okay?" She asked one of the Assistant Healers, who rolled his eyes and laughed to himself, having expected this.

"He's perfectly fine," He said. "Complained about a headache, though, but it ended around midnight."

"He didn't tell me his head hurt," Rin said with a slight hiss, missing the Assistant Healer's subtle hint that she was the cause of the 'headache'.

With that, she went over to Pie's room. She knocked on the door, but didn't get an answer. She slowly opened the door. She smiled in relief at seeing Pie, still asleep, on the bed. She adjusted a blanket around him, then went over to tidy up the rest of the room, knowing that her mother, Rirī and Kish would be up in a few minutes. After that was done, she went to kneel beside Pie again.

"Pie-Chan," She said in a sing-song voice. "Time to get up."

"I do not want to," Pie grumbled, turning his head away from her. Rin rolled her eyes. Pie, already a sleep-glutton and hard to get out of bed, was now doubly so since being confined to bed.

"Come on, the Assistant Healers will be here in a few minutes to check your vitals and give you your morning medicines," Rin said, gently jostling his shoulder.

"Now I want to wake up even less," Pie mumbled. Rin couldn't blame him for that.

The Healers had said that Pie's eyes were still going to need treatment so that they didn't get infected (invoking a snarky comment from Pie about how he didn't want to lose any more of his sight) and twice a day was given eye-drops that. Although it did nothing to help Pie regain his vision, it was rebuilding his eyes' ability to protect themselves from small irritants like dust, dirt and germs so that there wouldn't be any infections later on down the road. However, they all wondered if those were going to do more harm than good, considering the nightmare that was the first time the eye-drops were put in.

The Healers had just come in and explained why they wanted to use the eye-drops while an Assistant Healer made Pie comfortable lying flat on his back. Rin had been concerned for Pie, noticing that he was blinking a lot and had grasped hold of the sides of the bed. Pie's jaw was clenched as he waited for the drops to be put in his eyes, not knowing what to expect, holding very still.

Pie instantly flinched as the first drop was put in his right eye, turning his head, squeezing his eyes shut, bringing the heel of his hand to his eye, though the Healer tried to get him to move his hand.

"Burns," He gasped. "It burns."

While Rin tried to soothe him and comfort him through their bond, Risa grabbed a washcloth and went to the sink, soaking the cloth with warm water. After wringing out the cloth so that it was only damp, she went over and placed the folded cloth over Pie's eyes. That seemed to do the trick and the burning went away to everyone's relief.

Every time since then, it took two Healers to do the drops so that they could get them in at the same time and usually Rin and Kish to hold down Pie's wrists while someone—more often than not Risa—stood with a damp cloth ready to place it over Pie's eyes. After that, Pie would lie still and quiet for a few minutes, letting the drops work.

"I know you don't like it, but it's what you need," Rin said. "Besides, after that is breakfast. And then Tali's coming this morning, she said that she'd be here before lunch. Then you've got all afternoon to do whatever you want."

Pie reluctantly opened his eyes, turning to her with his dull indigo eyes.

"Fine…" He grumbled. "I am awake."

Rin smiled and hugged her brother.

"Thank you," She said, kissing his cheek.

Rin let go of her brother, then her brow furrowed. There was something poking out from behind Pie's pillow. She reached over and pulled it out, revealing that it was a card made out of stiff paper.

Addressed to both her and Pie.

Rin flipped it over, her eyes widening with horror as she read it.

"Rin?" Pie asked, confused as to why she suddenly cut him off.

"Pie, who was in here?" She whispered suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Pie asked, not understanding Rin's question.

"Pie, who was in here before I got here?" Rin demanded, her voice serious.

"I do not know, Rin. I was asleep when you got here, remember?" Pie said.

"Pie, you have to tell me now, who was in here? Who came in here during the night?" Rin demanded, grabbing Pie's shoulders and shaking him slightly. "Tell me now!"

"Rindou, let go of Pie now!"

Rin looked over her shoulder to see her furious mother glaring at her while Kish and Rirī stood beside her, both looking confused and angered by Rin's behavior.

"What is wrong?" Risa demanded, her tone evident that she was still angry with her daughter.

Rin said nothing but stormed out of the room, clutching tightly to the stiff piece of paper.

"Geez, what got into her?" Kish asked. Pie shrugged, having absolutely no idea.

Rin sat in the stairwell, staring at the piece of paper in her hands as a tear ran down her cheek.

You were lucky to survive this time. Next time you will not be so lucky. Neither of you.

It was unsigned. The kanji was printed, not a trace of handwriting that she could identify, even if she knew who it could have possible have been. She didn't have a clue who it could have left this for her and Pie. But she knew that whoever sent the letter was being serious. Deadly serious.

She reached into her skirt pocket, pulling out a small communication device. She keyed in a sequence then brought it up to her mouth.

"This is Ikisatashi Rindou. I was told to call if I remembered anything or found something that would help with the investigation," She said. She took a deep breath as she looked down at the piece of paper again. "Well, I've got something."