Chapter 10: A New Café and a Spark of Change, Nya!

(Back in Chapter Nine…)

Soon all three Ed's were up and at it within two minutes, "Thank you for caring for us when we were knocked out," Double D stated with a warm smile, slightly towards Bridget.

"… I-It's no problem," Bridget muttered as she, Corina and Kikki soon trailed back to their house. Soon the Ed's did the same…

(And now, onto Chapter Ten…)

It was now a cloudy, Saturday morning here in the little town of Peach Creek as we come upon the little neighborhood of the Peach Creek Cul-De-Sac. We soon come to the second house on the right of the entrance to the neighborhood. It is here where we see Eddy; his arms were crossed across his chest while he kept tapping his right foot on the sidewalk in an impatient manner. He was waiting for a few people to come to his house, as they were supposed to be here by now.

Soon he saw the two he was looking for coming from their houses to him; Double D and Ed. They both came over to the somewhat impatient Eddy, "Geez, what took you two so long to get here?" he questioned; you could clearly tell that he was irritated, "I've been waitin' out here for five minutes for you two."

"Sorry Eddy, I came as fast as I could; as I'm sure Ed did too," Double D stated as Ed nodded his head in agreement, "Why did you arrange this sudden meeting?"

Eddy didn't say a word as he proceeded to dig his right hand in his right pants pocket. He then pulled out something that the two other Ed's didn't expect; three quarters, seventy-five cents, "Eddy? When and where did you get seventy-five cents?!" asked Double D with surprise.

"Found it while I was looking for something last night," Eddy replied with a sly smile, "You know what I'm thinking about now, right?"

"Yeah; jawbreakers!" Ed stated with a big smile.

"Exactly!" Eddy said as he then turned towards the entrance of the Cul-De-Sac, "Just in time for that jawbreaker sale they're havin' now," he then turned back to the other two Ed's, "Let's get goin'!"

Double D and Ed only nodded her head as the two of them and Eddy soon started to walk to the entrance to the Cul-De-Sac, where they would down the street into town. About ten minutes later, they came up to their school. And about another five minutes of walking later, they arrived into town.

It was another five minutes before they finally came to the doors of their beloved candy store. The three Ed's entered the store as each of them picked two jawbreakers for themselves. Since there was a jawbreaker sale going on, anyone could buy two jawbreakers for the price of one; which was twenty-five cents.

"Ah, nice to see you boys again," said the female owner of the store as each of the Ed's put their jawbreakers on the counter to be purchased, "I see you're getting the usual today."

"Yes ma'am," Double D stated with a polite attitude.

The woman only smiled, "That'll be seventy-five cent, please?"

"Here ya go," Eddy said as he handed the woman three quarters, which the woman soon took it and put it into the cash register, "Thank you boys," the woman thanked with a smile, "Have a nice day."

The three Ed's soon left the candy store, each with a jawbreaker in their mouth and an extra one in their pocket. But as they left the candy store, something caught the attention of the three boys; it was a new building right across the street from the candy store. Since none of them have been down here in a long while, it was a complete surprise to them. The building itself was a very simple structure; some of the things on the outside of the building would probably attract more girls than boys. There was also a banner on the outside of the building that said 'Grand Opening'. The most surprising thing about this was actually not the building itself, but who was sweeping the sidewalk outside of the building.

"Is that… Nazz and Sarah?" Double D questioned with surprise.

"Yeah, I think it is," Eddy replied with even more shock, "What the heck are they doin'?"

"They're sweeping the sidewalk outside the café," replied a sudden voice from the Ed's left as Eddy froze up at the voice.

"Yes, it's one of their chores today," stated another voice as the Ed's then turned to the voices; Double D had a blush across his face from the second voice.

They turned to see Corina, Bridget and Kikki beside them, "Hi!" Kikki greeted as Ed smiled his usual toothy grin.

"Oh, h-hello girls," Double D greeted back as he and the other two Ed's looked at what they were wearing; it looked a lot like a French maid's outfit, "Why are you three dressed up like maids?" Eddy questioned; they were wearing the same thing as Nazz and Sarah were wearing across the street.

"It's for where we work," Corina stated as she turned to the building across the street, "It's called Café Peach."

"Would ya like to come eat there today?" Kikki asked.

"Sure!" Ed said with a wide grin before Double D or Eddy could say anything.

"Great," the three girls stated, "We better be going now, or we'll be late for work," Bridget said as she, Corina and Kikki soon walked across the street; going towards where they worked.

"… Way to go, Ed," Eddy started to say after the three girls left, "Why did ya have to say 'yes'?"

Both Double D and Ed were confused at what he was trying to point out, "We don't have that kind of money to spend," Eddy explained, "How do ya think we're gonna pay for it, huh?"

"Oh…" Ed muttered with a bit of sadness, realizing his mistake, "I didn't think about that…"

"That's alright Ed," Double D started to say to him, "I'm sure we can go eat there at another time," he then turned towards the café across the street, "In the meantime, why don't we just go visit?"

Eddy made an irritated sigh, "Whatever."

"Good," Double D said as he, Ed and Eddy soon walked across the street to the new café. Out in the not-too-far distance of the east, we could hear some thunder rumbling; a storm was coming…

When they finally entered the building, it did not seem as feminine as it was on the outside. There were plenty of tables and chairs scattered about in an orderly manner. The three Ed's were also surprised to see everyone from the Cul-De-Sac here in the café.

"Welcome to Café Peach," stated an unknown, feminine voice from behind them as they turned around to see a girl that they never seen around here before. She had medium length, black hair that had some white highlights mixed in and had bright, brown eyes that were mostly covered up by her oval shaped glasses. She also wore a maid's outfit, indicating that she worked here also, "Would you three like a table?" she asked.

"Oh, no thank you," Double D replied, "We just wanted to see what the inside of this place looks like; that's all."

"Oh, I understand," the girl said with a nod of her head.

"Hey Amelia," stated a voice from inside the café; it was Elliot's voice from within the kitchen, "Order number eight needs to be brought to its customer, can you bring it to them?"

"Sure I will," the girl named Amelia stated as she then turned back to the Ed's, "Thank you for stopping by," she stated before she walked off to the kitchen to deliver the order to the customer.

"Hey guys," stated three voices from the other side of them as the three Ed's turned to their right; it was Corina… minus Bridget and Kikki, "Did you come to eat now?" she asked, "I didn't expect you to come this early."

"Well, actually, umm…" Eddy started to say, "We can't come eat today; we don't have the money to spend on the food and--"

"Say no more," Corina interrupted him as she reached into the pocket of her work dress and took out something that none of the Ed's expected; a twenty dollar bill, "Here's something for helping me out at school yesterday."

Eddy was, by all means, shocked at what she was offering to him, "T-Thanks," he stated as Corina handed him the twenty. You could clearly see him blush a rose in his face when she placed the twenty in his hands; they were holding hands for half a second before they realized what they were doing, "… Oh!" they both yelped as they separated their hands. Corina blushed a bright red in her face, "So, uh… D-Do you need a seat now?" she asked, trying to pretend that nothing had happened.

"Y-Yeah…" Eddy stated with a sheepish smile on his face. Double D and Ed only smiled at their short leader's actions as Corina lead the three of them to their table.

"I'll take your order on your drinks now," Corina started to say. This got the attentions of the rest of the Mew cast; when did she start to take up orders? "What will it be?"

"I will take some water with lemon, please," Double D stated.

"I'll have a Dr. Pepper," Ed stated.

"And I'll take a Sierra Mist," Eddy concluded the order for their drinks.

"Alright, I'll fix them for you three in a second," Corina said as she then gestured towards the menus on their table, "In the meantime, try to find something you want in the menus."

Corina then walked off towards the kitchen to fix them the Ed's their drinks. As she walked back, a blush grew across her face as she started to smile.

"You like the short one, huh?"

Corina turned around sharply to see Renée behind her, "It's alright to admit that you like him; it's a little obvious now," Renée finished off.

Corina continued to blush at her statements, "M-Maybe…" she then gasped at something, "They'll be expecting their drinks now!" she jogged over to the drink machine and made the Ed's their drinks.

She placed them on a carrying platter and walked back towards the Ed's. A blush came across her face again when Eddy looked to see if she was coming, "H-Here you are," Corina stated as she placed their drinks in front of them. It was Eddy who noticed that Corina was growing red in her face, "Corina?" he started to ask, "Are you getting a fever? Your face is all--"

"I-I'm fine," she interrupted him, looking away from him; trying to hide her face. Indeed it was red; red as a beet. She then starts to walk briskly away, not even asking for what they wanted to eat, "Corina?!" Eddy questioned as he saw her walk out of the front doors of the café. It was only a second later that a wall of hard rain started to come down from the sky. Without saying a word, Eddy sat up from where he sat and went after Corina, leaving behind a speechless Double D, Ed, and Corina's friends.

Meanwhile, back with Corina, we could see her walking down the sidewalk towards the location of the school in the rain. She was shivering for the cold rain that was coming down from the sky. Corina still had the blush on her face as something kept crossing into her mind; why did she just walk away like that? She would have never guessed that she was being watched… until it was too late.

"Hello Mint," stated a voice from behind her as she swiveled to see someone behind her. It was her newest classmate, Raymond, but he was dressed differently; dressed in something… almost sinister, "How is the little Lorikeet today?" he stated with a sinister smirk. Corina widened her eyes in fright as he face now turned pale.

Meanwhile, back with Eddy, he was running down the sidewalk in the rain where he saw Corina head off too. While he was running, he noticed that his clothes were changing; he was changing into Topaz Knight, but he did not know that. He stopped for a moment to examine what he wore, "What the…? How the heck did I--?!"

Suddenly, a scream of horror cuts off Eddy's train of thought, "Corina," he muttered to himself as he then kept on running towards where he heard the scream. When he finally arrived to where he heard the scream, Eddy widened his eyes at what he was seeing. Eddy was seeing Corina dodging balls of dark-colored lightning that was being thrown at her mercifully by a freakishly dressed Raymond.

It was then, while she collapsed to her knees for a moment, that Corina noticed Eddy there; but she did not know it was Eddy, "To… paz…" she muttered with a few bits of her exhausted breaths; a smile grew on her face.

It was while she paid her attention to Eddy that Raymond saw his chance, "Hiiyyaa!!" he stated as he threw the biggest ball of electricity that he could produce; it was about the size of a dodge ball.

Eddy widened his eyes at the site of the ball of electricity, "Look out; Corina!!"

Corina soon noticed the ball of electricity coming towards her. She widened her eyes in fright as she tried to move; but alas, she was too weak to move anymore. She shut her eyes, waiting for the impact and pain of electrocution… but it never came. Instead of hearing her own scream, she heard someone else's scream of pain in front of her.

She widens her eyes in horror at whose scream it was, "Topaz?!" she questioned with terror as she saw who was lying down in front of her about three feet away; the rain was drenching the body. It was Topaz; his face was slightly burned and covered with a few deep cuts. The same could be said for his clothing too.

"No, Topaz!" Corina stated with a gasp of disbelief as she had a sudden burst of energy left in her to come over to her knight. She kneeled down beside him as she then noticed something starting happening to his clothes; they were changing into someone else's clothes. That's when she started to tear up in her eyes, mixing her tears with the rain coming from the sky; Topaz was really… "E-Eddy?!"

Eddy started to stir a little when he heard his name, "Co… ri… na…" he wheezed out as he weakly opened his eyes to gaze up at her; they were now full of pain. He was still alive somehow, "Are… you… al… right…?"

Corina only nodded her head, a few tears streaming down her cheeks, "Y-Yes, I-I'm alright, thanks to you; Eddy…"

Meanwhile, back with Raymond, he was in disbelief; how can that little shrimp survive his toughest attack?! "… Hmph," he muttered, 'Maybe I'll do a 'better' job next time,' he thought as he then left the two behind.

Suddenly, the rain stopped falling from the sky above the two as the sunlight now comes back out to greet them, "C-Can you get up?" Corina questioned.

"Yeah… I think… I can," Eddy stated as he tried to get up, but was unsuccessful in doing so, "Okay… maybe… not."

"Here, l-let me help you," Corina said as she helped Eddy up to his feet. She then took his left arm and puts it across her back to her left shoulder. She soon also takes her right arm and constricts her right hand under Eddy's right arm. This helped Eddy into standing and walking upright. It also made Eddy blush a little in his cheeks at how close Corina was to him. They continued to walk like this until they came to Café Peach.

"Guys! Please, help us!" Corina shouted to the people inside the café as she then took a well deserved rest on a chair that was outside; she sat the weakened Eddy down in another chair beside her before she sat down herself, of course, "Please, it's Eddy; he's hurt!"

Soon the four other Mews, Double D and Ed came out to see what was going on, "Corina, Eddy?!" Double D and Ed rushed over to their short friend, "W-What happened to you, Eddy?" Double D asked Eddy, seeing how he was still conscious from whatever he endured.

"I-I was… struck by… lightning…" Eddy explained weakly with a half of the truth.

"It looks to be serious, if not treated now," Double D said as he then turned to the others, "Someone needs to call an ambulance to assist with these burns," he explained.

Ichigo nodded her head, "I'll go call them," she said as she rushed back inside to call the ambulance.

"… You're really lucky, Eddy," Double D started to say to him, "If it would have struck any closer to your head, you wouldn't be here."

Eddy made a sigh at that fact, "Maybe…" he muttered as they all then heard sirens in the background; they were coming to get Eddy.

Soon the ambulances arrived, taking Eddy away from everyone, but not before he said, "Don't worry… I'll be fine now…" he gazed at Corina with a weak smile when he said that…

(At nine o' clock, later in the evening…)

It was now nine o' clock in the evening as we come upon a room at the hospital. We see Eddy sleeping peacefully in the hospital bed as his eyes started to twitch. He opened his ice blue eyes to see a white ceiling above him.

"Huh…?" Eddy questioned weakly to himself as he then noticed where he was; in a hospital bed. He tried to prop himself up to see his surroundings, but failed in doing so; he then saw the bandages on his arms, left shoulder and felt a few bandages across his face. Eddy then remembered what happened to him.

Eddy then found the bed raiser button on the side of his bed. He pressed the button up to make the bed fold upward. He was surprised at what he saw.

Eddy saw Corina sleeping in a chair across the room in a very awkward position. She waited for him to wake up, even though she was not awake to see him in doing so. He made a warm smile to her, 'Corina…'

It was then that she started to move a little to get into a more comfy position. She opened her eyes for a second to check on Eddy, only to see him fully awake.

"Eddy?" she questioned as she opened her eyes for good. She was fully awake herself, "Are you… feeling better?" she asked as she got into a position that was more comfy for her.

Eddy nodded his head weakly, "Yeah, I'm alright," he replied.

Corina soon got up and walked over to him, "That's good," she said with a sigh, "I… just wanted to thank you for saving me, Eddy."

"… I-It's no problem…"

They were quiet for a moment before they both glanced at each other and both made a smile to each other. They both hoped that this was the start of something new… for both of them.

Whew! Glad that's over! XD I don't know what will happen next, but I'll be planing it all out soon! :3