Prettyinpinkgal: I got several more reviews last chapter, so thank you very much, everybody! Here's Chapter Twenty~ It starts out in Ryou's POV. This one's a bit shorter, sorry about that! The song doesn't really just take up space though--a lot of it's Ichigo's thoughts.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Except Melon. The song is Twilight by Vanessa Carlton. When I heard this song in a Sora o Miageru Shojo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai amv, I thought it was beautiful and surprisingly might fit well in JaD. I hope you guys think the same!

JUST A DREAM

CHAPTER TWENTY: PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

I drive a bit over the speed limit. I glance at Ichigo several times, who has a determined look in her eyes.

"She won't be dead if we go back to the original present," I hear her whisper to herself. "It'll be okay."

I open my mouth to say something, but then close it. There's nothing I can do to comfort her, except to let her go through with it. Let her send us to the original present.

My resolve has crumbled. Despite the good intentions I had had, this "new reality" was perhaps more monstrous than the old one.

Ichigo's parents suffered a second death.

Retasu has died.

And Ichigo...

Ichigo will die again, too.

Has life always been this cruel?

Yes, it has. At least, to me it always has. Being bullied for being a genius, I had only my family as my escape. Then they died tragically, and Keiichiro was my only friend in this harsh world.

After that, I had taken a scientific approach to life. I distanced myself through numbers, hardly even opening up to Keiichiro. Pain was all that would come from relationships, I believed. People would always create wounds that could not heal as easily as physical injuries. So why bother? I would contribute to the world, without being in it. That was my guideline for my life.

Until I met her.

She was so opposite of me; I could tell just by looking at her grin on the monitor in our lab. It was her first date, and she was two years younger than I. She looked so childlike.

It was later that I realized it was not so much childlike as happy. Just naturally happy. She had spunk, which was amusing to me, and she was always passionate with all her emotions, whether she was sad, angry, perky, what have you. And she made me want to connect to the world, or at least with her.

And now she's going to die, after all my denying it.

"Ryou?"

I snap out of my thoughts and face her, the only girl who has made me want to live and not simply exist. "Yeah?"

Her eyes are sad, and I have to grasp the steering wheel tightly to avoid embracing her tightly, which would only end our lives sooner. "I'll talk to Kish at school tomorrow. When we're at the cafe, let's decide how to stop Melon, whether in this present or the other one."

She's being so brave. And I can tell in her expression that she's not merely worried about herself or hating what happened to poor Retasu; she's worried about me, how I'm going to handle it.

What, in all my seventeen years, have I done to deserve her?

I merely nod, keeping my eyes on the road, which is flying by faster than it should. At least I have the money to pay for the ticket.

"I love you, Ryou. I really, really do."

My hands tighten.

"And I you, Ichigo."

The cafe's cheery appearance contrasts with the misery inside. The Mew Mews are shocked and distraught, but none can shed a tear. "Let's kill them right now," Zakuro says calmly, her eyes deadly.

"No; I think Melon's the only one who deserves it. I mean, I hate the idea of killing," Ichigo adds, "but he won't stop any other way. And I think the others are starting to become more and more against him."

"We don't know that for sure, Ichigo," Minto snaps.

"You're right. But I'm going to be talking to Kish at school tomorrow--"

"Talking?!" Minto screeches. "You're going to have a nice little chat with the enemy?!"

Time to intervene. "That's enough," I say, my voice low and cold. "Ichigo knows what she's doing."

Minto opens her mouth, but her idol puts a hand on her shoulder. "Stop it," Zakuro orders. "Trust Ichigo."

Keiichiro chimes in. "Ichigo, what will you do?"

"Get him to give me a device to send us back into the original present."

There is silence. "Should I tell them now, or do you want to?" Minto asks me, her voice apologetic for her anger earlier.

"I'll tell them. Thanks, though." Ichigo breathes in deeply, and I take her hand. She looks at me gratefully, then faces the group.

"In the original present, I was the one tricked to help the little boy. He vanished, and I was hit by the car.

"In the original present, I manage to survive a little bit, and I am taken to a hospital.

"In the original present, I am the one who dies."

Again, silence, aside from occasional whispers of, "It can't be..."

Ichigo's hold on my hand tightens. "Ryou used alien technology to erase ever having thrown us into the Mew Project by giving us DNA. However, as you know, things have ended up repeating themselves. We did gain our powers, my parents did die, and one of us was hit by the car.

"Some things ended up different, though. Because Ryou and I were at my house the night of the fire, we managed to save them for a grand total of one minute. I managed to save my pendant, which was what the aliens had been after, so Melon presumably wanted to attack the weakest in our group to make me more upset and a more easy target to take the pendant from me and murder me.

"I'm not willing to give up, though, so he'll probably come after one of you next. But I'm going to try and erase this present before that happens. We can go back to the original present."

Purin's voice says in an unusually quiet way, "But you're going to die either way, na no da?"

Ichigo smiles sadly. "Yeah."

Purin runs up and hugs her tightly, crying.

Minto tears up a bit, and soon joins them.

Zakuro, usually stoic and distant, lets out something sounding suspiciously like a quiet sob. She joins the embrace as well.

In spirit, perhaps Retasu is with them.

Later, we decide that perhaps there's a way to defeat Melon in between the transfer of realities. Perhaps, if Tokyo Mew Mew delivers the finishing blow on Melon during the transfer, he will be killed in the original present as well. Ichigo had been in just about to be--for lack of a better word--completely dead when I had changed the present, and she had kept her memories.

Perhaps our plan will work. But it's worth a shot.

Ichigo's POV

The next day, I cheerfully enter my classroom. "Good morning!" I cry with a perky grin on my face. Waving to Moe and Miwa, I approach Kish Furukawa.

"Can I talk to you?" I ask happily.

Kish, who had seemed unusually lost in thought, looks at me, surprised. "Uh, yeah. Let's go outside." For once, I'm the one who made him speechless.

Ryou, help me go through with this.

I was stained, with a role, in a day not my own

But as you walked into my life

You showed what needed to be shown

And I always knew what was right

I just didn't know that I might

Peel away and choose to see with such a different sight

Outside, away from the envious glances of my friends and classmates, I drop the act. "So," I start, "what do you have to say about murdering one of my dearest friends?"

Kish winces. "I swear, Ichigo, I told him not to do it. I thought it was overboard, but...." His voice trails off, and I can see the conflict raging within him. Follow his leader and do his duty, or protect the enemy who is infinitely nicer than the leader. And it's obvious he's being honest: He didn't call me Kitten.

My voice softens. "I know. What about Pai and Taruto?"

"Pai's usually the one who most wants to follow orders, but even he protested a bit with Melon's method. Taruto asked if the blonde girl would be the victim--he was really scared about that--but he didn't want your other friend to die either." His voice becomes harsher. "Melon sent a blast at Taruto for 'being soft' when it came to humans. He's still recovering."

My hand unvoluntarily covers my mouth. "Jeez. Will he be okay?"

"Yeah, hopefully." Kish pauses. "You're...a really good person. I'll try to keep you safe."

"Don't say that," I reply, touched but not that touched. "Protect everyone on Earth." I sigh. "I actually pulled you out of class because I have a request."

Kish tries to act more carefree. "Like what, Kitten?"

"First off, never call me that again. Ever. Second: Do you have a device that erases events of the past?"

Kish's eyes widen. "How'd you know?"

"Long story. Short story: We need it."

And I will never see the sky the same way and

I will learn to say good-bye to yesterday and

I will never cease to fly if held down and

I will always reach too high 'cause I've seen,

'Cause I've seen twilight

The conversation is more or less a success. We miss a lot of class because of it, but so what? Geometry isn't the most important thing right now, especially for a soon-to-be-dead girl.

Kish agrees to give me the device, but he won't be able to for a while. Apparently, Melon is much more aware of the other aliens' dislike of his methods in this present, and has been keeping a closer eye on them. "If you have the final battle in our ship," Kish says, "I could give it to you then. Melon will hopefully be too distracted to worry about basic things like vanishing machinery."

So it's settled. Kish is one of our allies, and it sounds like his friends will be join us very soon as well.

Kish goes back inside, but I linger, feeling the breeze rustle my hair.

You know what? Forget school. If I live through this, I'll be able to go to school as much as I want, and I don't even have to go to school since I should be dead in a hospital somewhere.

I'm taking a mental health day. God definitely knows that I need it.

While on my way to McDonald's for a deserved milkshake, I bump into my favorite person.

"Ryou!" I shout, waving rapidly.

He looks up, surprised. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

I snort. "School, shmuel."

"That was juvenile."

"Shut it! Anyway I'm playing hooky today. I need a day off, and I already talked to Kish." I fill him in on our conversation as we sit down in the fast food restaurant., and Ryou nods morosely.

"Well, at least you were right about them not wanting to aid Melon."

"Of course I was right. I'm always right," I reply playfully. Then, in a serious voice: "I'm glad you're here. I think I might have been crying right now if you didn't show up."

Never cared

Never wanted

Never sought to see what flaunted

So on purpose

So in my face

Couldn't see beyond my own place

And it was so easy not to behold what I could hold

But you taught me I could change whatever came

Within these shallow days

We go on a date. It's safe now--things aren't going quite as expected, and so it doesn't look like I'm the next target. We go to the park, where perfection is surrounding us.

I have an overwhelming sense of peace. Even though are lives are really awful right now, I feel as if it's behind me. I wonder if heaven will be like this. I hope so, but I don't want to go there just yet.

I don't want to leave Ryou.

And I will never see the sky the same way and

I will learn to say good-bye to yesterday and

I will never cease to fly if held down and

I will always reach too high 'cause I've seen,

'Cause I've seen...

We kiss, and it is a sad, I-want-to-know-that-at-least-this-will-transcend-realities kiss. I'm really the luckiest girl in the world, to be loved so much. But perhaps he's the most unluckiest guy, because he loves me just that much and I will be taken away from him.

As the sun shines through

It pushes away and pushes ahead

It fills the warmth of blue

And leaves a chill instead and

I didn't know that I could be so blind to all that is so real

But as illusion dies I see there is so much to be revealed

"Ryou?" I whisper.

"Yeah?"

"I promise, I'll try to do whatever I can to come back to you, okay?"

He holds me tightly. "Yeah."

"I promise. Pinky-promise, even." I try to laugh, although it sounds strangled. "Even if it means I come back as a ghost."

His hold tightens again.

And I will never see the sky the same way and

I will learn to say good-bye to yesterday and

I will never cease to fly if held down and

I will always reach too high 'cause I've seen

'Cause I've seen twilight

The final battle is coming. There is a good probability that someone (other than myself) will die. The nice thing is, I can hopefully erase that if it does happen. But the horrible thing is that, if Melon doesn't die in both worlds simultaneously, possibly all the Mew Mews--maybe even the whole world--will die in the original present. Because I might not be there to help.

I was stained, with a role, in a day not my own

But as you walked into my life

You showed what needed to be shown

And I always knew, what was right

I just didn't know that I might

Peel away and choose to see with such a different sight

"Ryou?"

"What?"

"Can you hold me while I cry again?"

"...Go ahead, Ichigo."

"Thanks."

And I will never see the sky the same way and

I will learn to say good-bye to yesterday and

I will never cease to fly if held down and

I will always reach too high 'cause I've seen

'Cause I've seen twilight...