Minto's Christmas' Carol

Tarou

Note: Oh god, sorry for the major wait! I lost the interest to this story D: but hey, I'm back and we will finally meet Tarou! And hey, Christmas is in 21 days (since today is almost over)!

~xXx~

A few hours after the meeting of Akemi, Minto fell into another deep sleep. She had the image of Zakuro's death in her mind, which she hated. She hated the thought of her best friend never coming back, it broke her completely. Zakuro, why did you have to go? Minto had wondered over and over again, remembering the beautiful memories she had of Zakuro.

She remembered the times they fought side by side as Mew Minto and Mew Zakuro. She remembered the feeling of becoming Mew Minto, and then saw her best friend's face. She again thought of the moment when Zakuro and she chatted all the time, and the Christmas where they were first together as friends.

Then, if someone was completely against Minto getting any sleep, she woke to a jingle. What the—? She wondered as she opened her eyes, finding a young girl with large emerald eyes and that was all Minto saw at first. The old woman jumped a little, covering her heart as she tried to catch her breath. "Oh my God…who are you?!" She shouted at the girl who looked no more than 24.

"I'm Tarou!" The girl said as she grinned, showing off beautiful teeth, "The Ghost of Christmas Present."

Tarou had beautiful curly blond hair that was let loose, going down her back, and forming her face. Her skin was pale white, but was beautiful on her, and her eyes made you want to keep looking at her.

Minto eyed the girl closely, and she just smiled at her, "Who?"

"Tarou, Tar-ou." Explained the girl, "And I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present and I was sent here to help you figure out Christmas is amazing!"

She didn't believe her. "I don't need help."

"So Akemi didn't come?" Tarou looked surprised. "It says that she was already here…"

"You mean the little girl? I thought she was a dream…"

"Akemi is anything but a dream!" Tarou said and smiled at the older woman. "But yes, she is the little girl. She's a cutie, isn't she?"

Minto rolled over onto the other side, facing that way and closed her eyes, hoping that this crazy dream would end. Ghosts weren't real. Zakuro was dead and however these two "ghosts" were, they weren't real.

Tarou pouted when Minto rolled over, and she floated over to face the old woman. "Hey, I wasn't done!"

"Go away," Minto hissed.

"I will once you come with me, please?" Tarou begged.

Minto grumbled under her breath, but murmured a fine. What did she have to lose? This was a dream, after all. Tarou took her hand and went to the Present and what she wanted her to see.

In the present day of Christmas, Tarou showed Minto the small family that was Shji's family. Shji was placing some soup in front of a sickly boy, and she hated how her brother seemed weak since this was his grandson.

"This is stupid, can I go home now?" Minto said, crossing her arms in nothing more than a white nightdress that did nothing for her once beautiful body.

Tarou shook her head, "Look."

Minto watched, and then saw that Shji had to help the little boy eat, and her heart sunk. Shji's wife entered the room, slowly with what could be her daughter. "Mom, take it easy. Dad can wait. Dinner can too." Said the young woman.

"Oh yes, but you know your father hates to be left waiting." Shji's wife said, and gave a soft smile.

Shji looked at the old woman and smiled weakly at her. "Hey Aki, you look beautiful."

"Thank you, Shji-kun," Aki said, with a soft smile.

Tama looked at his grandparents and then his mother, whose name had not been heard by Minto, helped him sit up. "Dinner time, Tama," she said.

"Yes mama," Tama said.

The family sat down, and began to say grace. It was nice before Tarou began to talk. "This will be his last Christmas, without money ya know. His family can't pay for anything since Tama's dad took everything once he married Yami who is Aki's daughter. Tama is really sick."

"With what?" the old woman asked.

"Cancer,"

Minto fell quiet. "Oh…"

"Yes, it's been so bad that their family got together which this is it. Without your help, Tama will die."

Minto didn't know why but she felt bad for the little boy, and she felt her heart sink yet again in her chest. She stared at Tama, who looked just like Shji did as a boy, and her heart longed for those days.

Tama yet looked so happy, and he laughed with his family. No wonder Shji was proud of his family, Minto thought.

Finally, Tarou took hold of Minto's hand, and then they were in front of a beautiful small home. "Who lives here?" Minto asked.

"Ichigo,"

"Ichigo, you mean my Ichigo?" Minto asked, her mouth falling open.

Tarou nodded, "Yup, the very one! I just wanted to show you what happened to her."

Then, they saw an old woman. "Oh God, I know that woman! I saw her in the park with that boy, Akio was his name? Yes! They were there…but who's her husband?"

"I believe you know him as Kisshu."

"KISSHU?!" shouted Minto, shocked as sin.

Akio rushed into the room with her grandmother, and hugged her. He grinned as he told her he loved her, even though Ichigo looked sad.

"What's wrong with her?" Minto asked.

"Her husband, died. Kisshu passed away from a heart attack the night before, since Ichigo was taking Akio to the bath."

"Where's Akio's parents?!" Minto shouted, outraged.

Tarou faced her fully. "They passed away in a car crash, a few weeks after Akio turned 3."

Minto turned to look at the happy boy, and she felt bad. She sighed as she bowed her head.

Before long, Tarou took Minto back to her bed, and then….left just like that.

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