Amnesia Chapter 37:
The Decision
Unfortunately, while Lettuce had been gone, Pudding and Taruto had found some leftover candy, and eaten it all. Now they were bouncing off the walls, so Pai knocked them out and tied them up, then put them in a soundproof force field. "We should leave them till morning," Pai said. "They'll be over the sugar high by then."
"Alright," the others said.
The next morning: Pai let Pudding and Taruto out of the force field, and said to all of the Mews, "Keiichiro called and said your families will be there later today. Let's go to the ship, it's almost time."
Kisshu took Ichigo, and teleported, followed by Pai and Lettuce, and Pudding and Taruto. They landed in the control room, and sat down to wait.
Finally the large screen flickered on, and Keiichiro's face came up, with Lettuce and Ichigo's families, and Pudding's dad, who had come to visit his children, next to him. "I called everyone together," Keiichiro said. "It was lucky Mr. Fong was in town. I told them a little about the situation, from what I know. Pai, would you explain more?"
"Hai," Pai said. He looked at the Mews' families, and said, "The six of us- Ichigo, Kisshu, Pudding, Taruto, Lettuce and myself- have come to the realization that we really can't live without each other. We've all been invited to stay here, and while that may be for the best, Kisshu, Taruto, and I wouldn't just take your children away. We wanted your advice on what to do, as we can't live on two planets at once."
"Would you still be able to visit if you were to stay on Cyniclonia?" Lettuce's mother asked.
"We could visit occasionally," Pai said. "Unfortunately, we might not be able to come regularly, but we could certainly visit."
Mr. Fong asked Pudding, "Pudding, do you really want to stay?"
"Pudding would be sad without Taru-Taru, na no da," Pudding said. "Pudding wants to stay with Taru-Taru."
Shintaro asked Kisshu, "Do you promise to take good care of Ichigo if she stays with you?"
"Hai, I promise," Kisshu said, serious for once.
Sakura asked Ichigo, "Do you want to do this?"
"I won't be happy if Kisshu's not there, and a long-distance relationship won't work," Ichigo said. "I'll be happy wherever Kisshu is."
Lettuce's mother asked Lettuce, "Are you sure about this?"
"Hai," Lettuce said. "I finally found someone who loves me for who I am outside of my family; I don't want to give that up."
Lettuce's father asked Pai, "Do you promise to care for my daughter?"
"Hai," Pai said seriously. "I promise to take good care of her."
All the Mews' families sighed and looked at each other. The Midorikawas and Mr. Fong turned to Shintaro and Sakura, letting them make the decision. Sakura and Shintaro looked at each other, sighed, and then Shintaro said, "We'll let you do this. But I think- and I'm sure the others agree- that you should come back before you start living on Cyniclonia, just to say goodbye."
The other parents nodded in agreement, and Pai said, "Of course, we'll come back. We just have to let our leader know, and we should be there soon."
"Thanks," Keiichiro said. "We'll be waiting."
"It's a nine-hour flight, so we'll be there noon tomorrow your time," Pai said.
"Alright, see you then," Keiichiro said. Pai nodded and cut the connection. Then he turned to the others, and said, "Let's go inform Haroshi-sama, and tell Mint and Zakuro that it's time."
The others nodded, and the Cyniclons teleported the Mews back to the mansion. Once there, Pai asked a guard, "Is Haroshi-sama busy?"
"No, do you want me to tell him you need to speak with him?" the guard asked.
"Hai," Pai said. The guard teleported off, and the others waited. Five minutes later, he came back and said, "Follow me."
They followed him to a small room, and went in, then they all went down on one knee. "What did you wish to talk about?" Haroshi-sama asked.
"Ichigo, Lettuce and Pudding have decided to accept your offer to stay here, but their parents want to say goodbye, and we have to take Mint and Zakuro back," Pai said. "I'm requesting permission to go back to Earth. It won't be for long."
"Of course, it's only fair that their families should get to say goodbye," Haroshi-sama said. "I've been meaning to talk to you six anyways, actually. I think that since Kasumi and Ganju already are taking care of Rikia, and their house isn't big enough for nine people to live comfortably, the six of you should have your own home. Since you saved the planet, and Mew Lettuce came up with a solution to the war, I'm giving you a house that's big enough for the six of you. It's not quite finished yet, so you are welcome to remain here until it is."
The others looked startled. Finally Pai said, "We greatly appreciate your generosity, Haroshi-sama."
Haroshi-sama smiled and said, "It's the least I could do for you all, having saved the planet and come up with the solution to the war with the Kuritara."
"Thank you," Pai said. "If you don't mind, we should go inform Mint and Zakuro that they're going home, and get on our way to Earth. We will be back soon."
"Very well, I wish you luck," Haroshi-sama said. The six of them stood, bowed, and then Kisshu, Pai and Taruto teleported their girlfriends to Mint and Zakuro's room.
When they teleported in, Mint and Zakuro were teaching Rikia and Maya how to play BS. The girls looked up, and Pai said, "Mint, Zakuro, it's time to go back to Earth."
"What will the six of you be doing?" Zakuro asked.
"We will take you back to Earth, and then Ichigo, Lettuce and Pudding will be coming back with us," Pai said. "We're going back partly so they can say goodbye to their families. We'll still visit occasionally, but we will be living here from now on."
Zakuro nodded, accepting this. Mint looked shocked. "You all are staying?" she asked.
"Hai," Ichigo said. "We realized that we can't live without our boyfriends, and that they feel the same way. It's better to live here than Earth, since the Cyniclons aren't as welcome on Earth as we are on Cyniclonia. We'll still visit, though."
"How did your dad take this?" Mint asked.
"Surprisingly well," Ichigo said. "The only thing he wanted was the chance to say goodbye."
"You should get packed, we'll be leaving soon," Pai said. "We can talk more on the ship."
"Hai," Zakuro said. She and Mint got up and started getting their suitcases out, as Pai said, "Rikia, can you teleport them to the ship when they're done? We'll be waiting."
"Hai," Rikia said. "Can I come? I feel like I should thank Sakura for her kindness in taking me in, even though it was brief."
"That's fine," Pai said. He nodded to the others, and they all teleported back to the ship. They were leaving their stuff behind, since they'd be coming back.
When they got to the main room on the ship, Pai said, "Taruto, you're copiloting. And NO sugar beforehand, are we clear?"
"Yes…." Taruto grumbled. Pai turned to the others and said, "Keep Pudding out of the control room."
"Got it," Kisshu said. The others nodded, and Kisshu led them to a comfy room with a lot of couches and fluffy chairs. A while later, Rikia teleported in with Mint and Zakuro, and said, "I told Pai we're here, we should be taking off soon."
Almost as soon as she said that, the intercom came on and said, "Please have a seat, we're taking off."
Everyone who wasn't already sitting down sat down, and the ship lurched, then began to move. Ichigo sighed. "What's wrong, Koneko-chan?" Kisshu asked.
"I wonder if I'll miss my parents," Ichigo said softly.
"Well, at least they'll still be alive," Kisshu said. "And you'll be able to visit them sometimes."
"Are you missing your parents?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah…." Kisshu said softly. "Getting depressed yesterday brought back memories."
"I'm sorry," Ichigo said. "Maybe we should talk about something else. You look really sad."
Kisshu didn't respond; instead, he took her hand and teleported to another room. They landed on a double bed, and Kisshu flopped back. "This is my room on this ship," he said. "It looks like someone took down my decorations, though."
"Decorations?" Ichigo asked.
"I had a lot of pictures of you in here," Kisshu said softly. "It helped me feel closer to you when I was in here. It made me feel better, even though I knew you hated me."
Ichigo put a hand on his cheek gently. Kisshu sighed and softly said, "I wish my parents were still alive. It was so hard to lose both of them at once." He sighed again, then asked, "What are your parents like?"
Ichigo smiled softly. "My mom is the sweetest, most understanding person you'll ever meet," she said softly. "She's a great cook and baker, and she loves helping people with their problems. She saw that I was growing up way before my dad did, and she helped me when Dad got too overprotective."
"What about your dad?" Kisshu asked.
"He's usually a pretty good-natured guy, and likes to have fun," Ichigo said. "But he's also way too overprotective of me, and that made it hard to make friends, because my dad would sometimes scare people he didn't like the looks of away from me. I think the only reason Aoyama dated me is because he didn't know my dad. Most of the other boys had either met or heard of him, and didn't want to date me for that reason. Not to mention the fact that the school lives in fear of my best friends, including the boys. Even the martial arts team and the kendo team fear them."
"Why's that?" Kisshu asked.
"Moe and Miwa have known me since I was really little, and they've always been there to protect me, since my parents told them I was fragile," Ichigo said. "They'll beat up anyone who insults me, and if someone ever tried to physically hurt me, they'd go berserk. One time a boy tried to punch me in grade school, and Moe and Miwa not only stopped the boy before his punch landed, but they actually beat him up so much that he got a broken arm. By the time they were done with him, he had two black eyes, a bloody nose, and his left arm was broken in three places. Moe and Miwa looked at him when they were done, and Moe said, "NO ONE hurts Ichi-chan. If you try this again, we'll land you in the hospital for a month. And you can tell your little friends that they'll get the same deal if they try what you just tried." Moe and Miwa got in SO much trouble, but as usual, they didn't care. They still think I'm fragile, and to some degree, they're right."
"Zakuro said that," Kisshu said. "You've always been fragile?"
"Pretty much, but now it's just emotional," Ichigo said. "When I was little, I wasn't very strong. I was born too early, and my parents told me that the doctors thought I wouldn't live more than a few weeks at most. Luckily, I survived, but I was always small for my age, and until I was about seven years old, my parents had to be careful that I didn't get sick, since even a cold could turn into pneumonia or something. I'm glad I'm not like that anymore."
"Wow, I never would have guessed that about you," Kisshu said.
Ichigo smiled slightly, and said, "Most people wouldn't."
"Do you think that your friends will be sad to see you gone?" Kisshu asked.
"Probably, but they've always been understanding," Ichigo said. "And they know about the Mews. You told them about me when you had amnesia."
"Oops…" Kisshu said. "How'd they take it?"
"They were fine with it, and they understood that it wasn't really something I could have told them at school, with other people around," Ichigo said. "I think I should tell them I'm leaving, though."
"I think you're right," Kisshu said. "It wouldn't really be nice to just leave it to your parents to tell them."
"I hope they're around when we get back," Ichigo said.
"Yeah," Kisshu said.
"What were your parents like, Kisshu?" Ichigo asked.
Kisshu's eye misted over, and he laid back on the bed. Before Ichigo could apologize, though, Kisshu said softly, "My mom was a lot like yours; really sweet and understanding. She was fun to be around, and she had a great laugh, kind of like bells. She had gold eyes, like me, and reddish brown hair. She never really got mad, either. And she always gave me two kisses at bedtime. I really liked that…." Kisshu sighed, and continued, "My dad was pretty strict, but he wasn't unreasonable. He never hit me to make a lecture stick, like some parents did. He had green hair, and black eyes. He was really tall, too. I remember a few times, we'd go to a friend's house, and he'd accidentally hit his head on the doorframe. I remember hoping I didn't get that tall; it looked really hard. My hairstyle is the same as his was. That's why I wear it like this." Kisshu smiled slightly, remembering.
"They sound like great parents," Ichigo said softly.
"They were," Kisshu said. A tear slid down his cheek, and Ichigo noticed. She put a gentle hand on his cheek, and smoothed his tears away. Kisshu put his hand over hers. "I'm glad you're here, Ichigo," he said.
"I'm glad I can be here for you, Kisshu," Ichigo said.
Well, that was pretty fluffy. There's not going to be much more action in this story; it'll be mainly fluff from here on out. Review please!