Chapter 9

Strawberry

The following evening Ichigo and Zakuro were working again, although it had been a long time since Zakuro had worked two days in a row at the Café. Minto and Lettuce had been scheduled to work. But Minto had been more than happy to trade with Ringo and get off that evening, although she would not have if she had known that Zakuro would be there. And they had prevailed upon Lettuce to trade an evening with Zakuro. So those two, who were not known to Fate and thus to the Bureau, would not be present.

Ringo was in, and Ichigo did not like that. Not only did their enemy know who Ringo was, but Ichigo felt guilty that their enemy knew, for she had asked Ringo to try to heal Fate. And of all the Mew Mews, Ichigo wanted, most of all, to protect Ringo. But Ringo was completely convinced that Ichigo could protect her from anything. And in any case, it was busy that night, and so either Ringo or Pudding was needed. Either Ringo had to face the risk, or Pudding. The Bureau fiends didn't know about Pudding, so it was better that Ringo was working, whom they knew about, than Pudding. But Ichigo didn't like it.

And Berry was there. Ichigo didn't like that, either. It wasn't that Ichigo hated Berry; no one could hate Berry. But Berry always made Ichigo look bad, because Berry never did anything wrong. So Ichigo did not like her around. But she was powerful, and would be a big help if they were attacked by the Bureau. And if she fell fighting the Bureau fiends – well, Ichigo would feel a lot less grief over her fall than over the death of Pudding or Ringo. Still, Ichigo didn't like it when she was around.

Ichigo and Zakuro were standing in the back of the dining room, taking a short breather. Unlike the previous evening, the Café was busy, with most of the tables occupied by chattering children and teenagers. The waitresses had been running all evening, trying to keep up with the orders. But there were still a few moments when they could take a breath, and share a few words; and this was one of those moments.

"Maybe you're wrong," Ichigo half-whispered to the older girl. "Maybe she won't show up tonight."

"I suppose that she might have something else she has to do," Zakuro muttered, loud enough for only Ichigo to hear. "But it would shock me if she doesn't come."

"You really think they're going to come and kill us?" Ichigo asked. "I thought that… well, that I could trust her, after what she shared with me last night. About her mother, and her childhood, and all."

For the first time Zakuro turned her face and looked at the red-haired girl. "I don't really trust her, no, I don't," she said. "And I trust that Bureau a whole lot less."

"You don't even know them," Ichigo objected.

"No, I don't," Zakuro responded, "but I don't trust people who think they have 'way more authority than they do, as if they think they're gods or something. What right do they have to come to our world and tell us what we can or can't do? They have the power to do so, but not the right. It takes a really dangerous level of self-righteousness to think the way they do. If Fate-o has told them about us… I can't imagine they won't attack."

"Fate-o said she wouldn't tell them," Ichigo said.

Zakuro nodded, and sighed. "True. And I hope she hasn't, and won't. But even if she hasn't, I expect she'll come tonight."

"And why is that? To attack?" Ichigo asked.

Zakuro shook her dark-maned head. "Maybe, but I don't think so. You heard her story, how sad it was. And when I do the healing thing that way, I can feel something of what is in a person's heart, in her soul."

"And what did you feel in her soul?" Ichigo asked.

Zakuro remained silent for several seconds before answering. "I felt the most awful, saddest… emptiness I could ever imagine. Look, you heard her story. Abused horribly and rejected by her mother, now rejected – as she sees it – by her foster-mother. Growing up without family or friends, except for that familiar she mentioned. She has had one real friend in her life, her Nanoha, and that person is half a universe away. Her soul is empty, and it aches to be filled. And now I think she wants you to fill it, Ichigo, but you can't. But she has nowhere else to turn, so… she'll be here, as soon as she can – and that means tonight."

Ichigo looked into Zakuro's dark sapphire eyes and nodded. She did not completely understand what the idol meant by all her words. Yet she knew that Zakuro understood many things she did not, and she trusted her. She turned away and began heading for the kitchen, but Zakuro's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Look!" the tall idol whispered.

Ichigo looked. And there, near the entrance to the dining room, two blondes were facing each other. The one with her back to Ichigo was Berry, as her waitress uniform showed. The other was Fate. Fate had indeed come, and Berry had been the first to meet her.

Zakuro frowned. "One of us had better go up there now," she whispered again. "Or something nasty might happen."

"I should go, I suppose," Ichigo said. And she began to walk forward.

"No, I think I should," Zakuro responded. "You might get into a fight with Berry. I won't." And she passed the stopped Ichigo and approached the two blonde girls.

The two blondes were clearly having a discussion – indeed somewhat of an argument, though in low voices. Zakuro could not understand any of the words at first, but she began to grasp them as she drew close.

"I came to see Ichigo," Fate was saying. "She's there, in the back of the room. Let me go to her, that's all…"

"For what?" Berry responded. "So you can fight her again? You almost did her in last time, and now you're here to finish the job?"

"No!" Fate came back, her voice beginning to rise. "Ichigo's my friend now! She helped heal me! She…"

"She wouldn't heal you, or help you," Berry responded. "Even Ichigo isn't that…"

But her words stopped suddenly as Zakuro's voice interrupted her. "Yes, she would – and yes, she did," she said.

Berry spun towards Zakuro and her mouth dropped open. Nobody ever interrupted Shirayuki Berry, much less contradicted her. "What?" she gasped. "Isn't this that Bureau girl from the video, that tried to kill Ichigo? She looks just like her!"

Zakuro nodded. "Yes, she's the one. So don't start a fight with her."

"But… but…" Berry stammered. She was so used to being right all the time that she could not really deal with being contradicted.

Zakuro reached out and touched Berry's shoulder. "She was here yesterday, and she was crying, and Ichigo listened to her story, and pitied her, and gave her her magical medallion back. And we healed her. When Ichigo beat her, her ability to do magic was destroyed. We… gave her that power back."

Berry's jaw dropped. "Are you crazy? She could destroy us! She…" Berry shook her blonde head violently. "Why would you, of all people, do anything so stupid?"

Zakuro found Berry's words insulting, of course, but she did not raise her voice when she responded. "I did it… because Ichigo asked me to."

"What? Because that baka…" Berry gasped.

Zakuro's eyes grew dark. She had never heard Berry call anyone an insulting name before. Berry never said anything bad…

Zakuro knew that this conversation with Berry would have to go on for a long while. So she turned from Berry to the other blonde, and spoke in a low voice. "Fate-o-san… you can go to Ichigo. Berry and I have need to have a serious talk..."

"Yes, Zakuro-san!" Fate responded, and she began to push past the other two.

"No!" Berry said, her voice clearly rising. "I'm the head of the Mew Mews, and I say no!"

Zakuro's mouth twisted as she spoke. "That was a really smart thing to tell someone you think is going to attack you, Berry," she muttered in a very low voice. "And if you raise your voice any more, you'll tell everyone in this Café that you're a Mew Mew. Do you want to blab the rest of our identities, too?"

Yet again Berry's mouth fell open. She never said anything wrong! She stammered, and for a few seconds she wasn't able to say anything. And so Zakuro said, again quietly, "Fate-o… go to Ichigo. Now. I'll take care of Berry."

Berry began to object, but Zakuro again touched her arm, and stopped her. "Berry, we need… to talk," she said. Then she nodded to Fate, who pushed past both of them, and approached Ichigo in the back of the room.


Ichigo had watched the discussion in the front of the room, but she had not understood any of the words. She had been tempted, of course, to come up close and eavesdrop on what the other girls were saying, for it was obvious that emotions were running high. But she had waited, as Zakuro had asked her. She had somehow hoped, at least a little, that the other girls could have convinced Fate to leave. But now Fate was approaching her.

So Ichigo swallowed hard, and spoke. "Good evening, Miss. Are you interested in a table?"

Fate smiled shyly. "Well, yes, I'd like to get something…. Something to eat, I mean," she half-mumbled.

Ichigo led her to a table, and produced a menu. "I've heard,' she said, "that they have some rather good… chocolate treats here." She forced a smile.

Fate took her seat and glanced at the menu for a second. "Well, really, tonight… I was more interested in… uh, strawberry." She looked up at Ichigo.

"There are strawberry shakes, of course, and our strawberry shortcake is known all over Tokyo," Ichigo responded.

"Then… that's what I want," Berry said. "The big-sized shake, with the two straws. And two strawberry, uh, cakes, whatever."

"Two…?" Ichigo asked. She stared into the other girl's eyes. "Is someone joining you?"

"I hope so," Fate said. Then she smiled at Ichigo, and her eyes sparkled for a second.

"Oh… you mean me?" Ichigo asked. And when the blonde nodded, Ichigo went on, "You want to talk again?"

"I want you… to be my… friend," Fate half-whispered.

"Your friend…?" Ichigo mumbled. Zakuro's words of a few minutes before raced through her mind. The poor girl was so lonely, so desperate for attention! Ichigo stared long into her eyes, and Zakuro's words came back to her: "I felt the most awful, saddest… emptiness I could ever imagine." Emptiness… Ichigo could see that in the girl's eyes. Emptiness, and an incredible hunger. Hunger for attention, hunger for friendship. That poor girl, Ichigo thought. She was so… alone.

And so Ichigo said, quietly, "I'll sit with you for a while, but if it gets busy, I'll have to get up and wait tables. Berry would be most unhappy with me if… if I don't carry my share of the load, you know."

"Berry?" Fate responded. "Who's that?"

"Ah, the blonde. The one you were talking to up front," Ichigo said.

Fate glanced back over her shoulder. "She's mean," she muttered, showing her teeth for a second.

Ichigo stared long at the blonde girl once again. "Berry? Mean? Never…" she muttered in return. "No, not Berry. Not mean… afraid. I think she's afraid of you, like… like the rest of us."

"Afraid… of me?" Fate mumbled. "But I thought you… liked me. You saved me!"

"Just say… I don't know you well enough yet, to trust you…" Ichigo said quietly. "After the way we first met… it will take a long time before I can trust you… all the way."

"But Nanoha trusted me right from the beginning!" Fate objected.

Once again Ichigo was left staring into the red-violet eyes of the blonde girl. "But I'm not your Nanoha," she answered.

Fate's face fell. "You still hate me, don't you?" she gasped. Tears began to appear in her eyes.

But Ichigo shook her head. "No, Fate-o-san, I don't hate you, or I would never have listened to your story, and never asked the others to heal you." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "But – I'm afraid of you. That will take a long time to get over." She stared deeply into the red-violet eyes of the blonde girl, and spoke very slowly. "So… your friend? Someday, maybe, I hope. But for now… let's just say I'm the closest thing to a friend you have until your Nanoha comes back. And so… let me get you that order, and then I'll sit down with you. And don't worry about Berry, OK?"

Fate swallowed hard and returned Ichigo's stare, looking deep into the waitress's dark eyes. "OK," she answered. And she bowed her head and stared at her hands, clasped on the table, while Ichigo turned to go the kitchen to get the order filled. But as Ichigo turned, something caught her eye, and she glanced back. And she saw that those hands upon the table were trembling.

And tears filled Ichigo's eyes, too, as she hurried away.


Ichigo sat, leaning over the table as she took a long drink of the strawberry shake through her straw. Across the table Fate was doing the same, with her face less than a foot away from Ichigo's. Ichigo for second wondered what things looked like to the others. She had seen Fate and Nanoha sit like this, and she quickly had become sure that the two were lovers. Did it look like that now to the other Mew Mews? Would Berry accuse her of selling out the Mew Mews because she was in love with the enemy? But the shake tasted so wonderfully good, and Ichigo, who served such things nearly every night, indulged in them so rarely herself as she tried to keep in shape.

She finished her swallow and leaned back into her chair, watching the blonde girl carefully. Was that a hidden smile, a furtive glance that Fate had given her? Ichigo began to feel even more uncomfortable than she had before. So she took a deep breath, and spoke.

"Well, Fate-o-san… did you want to talk about something?"

The blonde girl looked up from her strawberry shortcake. "Well," she said slowly, "I told you my story last night. I guess I'd like to hear yours. I mean, how did you become a magical… cat-girl?"

Ichigo was somewhat surprised by the question; but she more than a little enjoyed telling her story, if for no other reason that she had to hide a great part of it – the magical part – from nearly everyone. So she started quite from the beginning, and told of her struggle just to survive her premature birth, of her family, her friends, her boyfriend. She told how she had been changed into a Mew Mew by Ryou Shirogane's infernal machine, of her leadership of the Mew Mews, of the obsessed alien, Kisshu, that was always after her. She told of the defeat and death of Deep Blue, of giving her life to save her Aoyama, of being saved in turn by his kiss. And she told of the coming of Berry and her demotion from the leadership, and of the defeat of the Saint Rose Crusaders. The story was long, and Ichigo – not that she would admit it – relished telling the story.

Yet finally the story came to an end. Fate sat in silence for quite a while when it was done. Then she spoke, with more than a little sadness. "It was always different for you, wasn't it? I mean, you were always wanted. Your parents wanted you, and your friends at school. And all of those guys – your boyfriend, and your boss, and even that alien guy… Everybody wanted you. Nobody… wanted me. Except for my magical power, I mean. They all wanted that. My mother and the Bureau and all the rest of them wanted me for that. But none of them really wanted… me."

"Except for… your Nanoha," Ichigo said. "She wanted you."

Fate nodded slightly. "Yes, Nanoha was different. She loved me from the beginning, or wanted to. And… there was one other that cared about me, not just about my magical power."

Ichigo responded, "There was? You never told me about that."

"Well… maybe there were two – no, three," Fate said. "There was Hayate – that's the girl that was mistress of the Book of Darkness, a really powerful magical girl. I think she liked me some, but I think that that was mostly because of Nanoha. She's with the Bureau, now, too." Fate took a breath, and then went on. "And there was my familiar, Arf. She was this dog that I saved. We saved her by turning her into my familiar, and so sometimes she's a dog, and sometimes she's like this woman who wears skimpy outfits and has really big, ah… jugs. She's always faithful to me."

"Fate-o-san… what's a familiar?" Ichigo asked.

"You don't know?" Fate responded. "A familiar is a magical creature that is bound to a magic-user to serve her. Arf always was faithful to me, but she really had no choice, because she was bound to me as my familiar."

Ichigo didn't completely understand yet; but she thought that maybe her Masha acted something like a familiar, though her Masha was a robot, not a living creature. At least she could grasp that much. So she went on, "And you said… there were three?"

Fate stared at her hands for several seconds and then spoke very slowly. "And… there was this… this cat-girl. Her name was… Ichigo. I was horrible to her, and then she saved me – and liked me."

Ichigo just stared in silence, and so Fate asked, "Well… Do you like me?" There were tears in her eyes again.

Ichigo still sat in silence. In those teary, red-violet eyes was all the pain, all the loneliness, all the desire for friendship and love that the universe could contain. She could answer no other way.

"Yes, Fate-o-san. I like you."

Now the tears flowed freely, and Fate gasped out her next words. "Oh, Ichigo! My… friend!" Her mouth smiled, but the tears kept pouring from her eyes. "You… like me!"

Ichigo's eyes began to fill with tears as well. Just what did she feel for the blonde girl? Did she like her, or did she just feel pity? She certainly did still fear her. But she smiled through her own tears, and nodded her head. "Yes… Fate-o… my friend."

Fate's breaths were now racing, and she swallowed hard. "Ah, Ichigo, my friend," she said, "I have something I want to show you. It's not anything like a magical talisman, like you showed me. But I want to show you, and I think I don't want to show you here. Could we… ah… go in the back again, like yesterday?"

Ichigo was getting very uncomfortable. What did Fate have to show her? Could this be a trap to get her alone, so Fate could destroy her? Was her precious Nanoha here, to finish their rival off? Ichigo sat, her mind racing. No, she thought. There was no way that Fate was faking that loneliness, that emptiness. This wasn't a trap.

And so she said, quietly, "OK, Fate-o-san. We can go in the back again."

And in silence the two girls got up and headed for the kitchen door.


The two girls quickly stepped through the door into the kitchen. It was brightly-lit, as it had been the night before, but unlike that previous evening, it was not empty. Shirogane Ryou was there, sampling the pastries, as he did far more often than he cared to admit. He looked up as the door opened, staring at the girls; and he frowned.

"Momomiya-San – is that who I think it is?" he asked, quite harshly.

The girls stopped, and for a second, Fate drew back. But Ichigo did not retreat, and she said: "Ah… yes, she is. This is… Fate-o."

"The one from that Bureau? The one that was here a week ago with that other Bureau girl?" Ryou demanded.

"Yes, Shirogane," Ichigo answered. She did not use an honorific when addressing him.

The blond man ignored the snub. "The one that tried to kill you a month ago?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah. That one." She did not back down an inch.

"Are you nuts?" Ryou asked her.

Ichigo did not retreat, but marched forward, until she stood full in her boss's face. "It's better that I befriend her, than fight her. It's better than dying."

"Befriend her…?" Ryou gasped incredulously. "You are nuts!"

Ichigo said nothing, and Ryou half-turned away. "How did I ever choose you to be a Mew Mew?" he mused aloud. Then he turned back. "Just make sure that she if she kills you, she doesn't kill or even hurt anyone else. Got it?"

"Shirogane Ryou… stick it where the sun don't shine!" Ichigo muttered. It was supposed to be under her breath, but was much too loud, and both Ryou and Fate heard and understood every word.

Ryou's eyes grew very hard for several seconds after Ichigo's outburst, but then softened, and he said, "I suppose I should just fire you… but being a Mew Mew is a permanent sort of thing." He turned away. "Just remember: you're responsible for her – and for any damage or hurt she does. Got that?"

"Yeah, I got it," Ichigo muttered, again too loudly. She turned away from her boss and stalked back to Fate, who stood with a doubtful look on her face. She took Fate by the hand and began to lead her away.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Ryou demanded.

"The dressing room!" Ichigo snapped back. "Fate-o has something to tell me in private, and I want to go where there's none of your infernal surveillance cameras. Unless you've got one even in the dressing room!"

"What do you think I am, some kind of a pervert?" Ryou growled.

"Yes," Ichigo muttered – again too loudly. And she led Fate through the door to the hallway that led to the waitresses' dressing room.


The door to the dressing room closed behind them, leaving the two girls alone. The dressing room seemed small and cozy when compared to the kitchen, and the light was more muted there. Fate looked around for a second, taking in the surroundings, and then said in a low voice, "He's really nasty, isn't he."

"He just gets me so mad!" Ichigo responded. That much was true, but she did not mention the other feelings that he could arouse in her heart. "But he's the boss here. He's the one that made us Mew Mews, so we have to put up with him."

Fate was silent, taking in what she was learning about the Mew Mews. Then, looking around once more, she asked, "Are we really alone here?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, as alone as we could be anywhere in the Café," she said. "And no, I don't really think he has any surveillance cameras in here. I really don't think Shirogane is that much of a pervert."

"Good," Fate whispered. Then she was silent again.

So Ichigo asked, "Well, what is it that you have to show me that had to be so private?"

Fate glanced around one more time, and then stared into the cat-girl's dark eyes. "This," she said.

She took one step forward, and her arms encircled Ichigo's waist – and her lips engulfed Ichigo's.

Ichigo was startled. This was not a friendly kiss, nor a gentle kiss, nor a stolen kiss like Ryou's, taken half in jest. Ichigo had never felt anything like this. She had never felt a woman's body, rather than a man's, pressed against her own – a body softer, more curved, more… sensuous? She had never tasted the sweetness of a woman's lips, known the power of a woman's passion. She felt Fate's tongue push into her mouth. But she kept her teeth closed.

Then, with sudden strength, she pushed Fate away.

A sudden pain shot through Fate's eyes, and she gasped, "You don't like me? You don't want me?"

Ichigo just shook her head slowly. "Fate-o… san… I have a boyfriend, and I don't cheat on him. OK?"

"It's not cheating. I'm a girl," Fate replied; and she tried again to draw Icihgo's body to her own.

But Ichigo shook her head again, and said, "It's still cheating."

Fate suddenly spun away. "You don't like me! You hate me!" And the tears started to flow again.

"That's not fair, Fate-o," Ichigo said, her voice a little too loud. "I do like you, and care about you, only… not like that."

"You don't like me at all!" Fate sobbed.

Ichigo had never before felt the power of a woman's tears, and she felt her heart breaking within her chest. Yet she would not cheat on her Aoyama-kun! So she reached out, and touched Fate's shoulder, and whispered, "No, Fate-o. I like you, I care about you. But I don't want the yuri thing."

Fate just kept sobbing, so Ichigo continued, "You just should have asked me first."

There were still more sobs from Fate, so Ichigo went on further. "I told you, I'm not your Nanoha. I can't be her. And wouldn't it bother your Nanoha if she knew that you and I were… ah, you know… becoming lovers?"

Fate suddenly spun back to the redhead, and her voice was quick and harsh. "Nanoha loves me, and she wants me to be happy."

Ichigo shook her head slowly again. "I doubt… she wants you to find happiness in arms other than hers."

But Fate just stood there, her red-violet eyes glaring. So Ichigo continued, "You said you had another friend, and that, ah… familiar. They care about you, they like you, and in their own way, they love you. But they're not your lovers, are they? They leave that for your Nanoha. Why can't I be like them for you?"

For several more seconds Fate glared into Ichigo's eyes, and then her words came, low and dark. "They don't really love me. I wanted you to really love me."

Ichigo just shook her head. "No, Fate-o-san. I cannot be your Nanoha. I cannot be your lover. Either accept me as a friend, or hate me and walk away, because that's all I will be for you - your friend. But if you hate me and walk away – just remember. You promised you'd never hurt Ringo."

Fate stood for several more seconds, weeping quietly. And then she spoke, in a low, horribly pained voice. "You still… want to be my friend?"

Ichigo reached out her hand and gently touched the crying girl's cheek. " I… am your friend, Fate-o," she said, her voice just above a whisper. "You need me, I'll be there for you. Always. But… not as your lover. That will be reserved… for your Nanoha."

Then something snapped in Fate's spirit, and she collapsed into Ichigo's arms, crying, gasping. "Ichigo," she whispered. "My… friend? Do you really mean it, after what happened tonight?"

"Yes, Fate-o," Ichigo whispered. "Your friend… forever." And she held tightly while the blonde girl cried upon her shoulder. Ichigo held her close, but her eyes stared into the distance and her heart ached with fear. What had she gotten herself into now?