In a few minutes of hurried, last-minute preparations, all three girls were rushed out the door of their room and into the hallway. Ira re-introduced them to the three members of the building staff who had previously helped them teleport to the ballroom their first day in the compound. All three men were dressed in formalwear similar to what Ichigo had seen at the welcoming party a few days ago — longer coats made of rich, thick material in jewel tones, layered over loose pants tucked into boots. Two of them smiled politely as the girls made their way out the door. The third looked nervous to be there.
"You're coming with us, right, Ira?" Lettuce asked as they were shuffled out into the hall. She tucked a loose strand of hair into the crown of hair braided around her head in an elegant updo.
"Of course," Ira replied. "I'll be right behind you. I'll see you off for the opening ceremonies. Then, I'll be here and there around the party to assist you in whatever you need."
"Wait, there's some kind of opening ceremony?" Ichigo interjected. "What does that mean?"
"Sounds boring!" Pudding added. "I'm starving – I hope there's food!"
"None of the princes explained how this works? To any of you?" Ira said with an exasperated sigh. "Alright, I'll explain what's going to happen when we're down there. Now, Pax, Hale, Rami – could you please bring the three mews to the west wing of the old palace?"
All three attendants nodded and moved to stand next to one of the mews. Ichigo hooked her arm around the arm of the man who stood to her side – the one who looked nervous enough to puke on her shoes. Ichigo blinked up at him curiously.
"Is something wrong?" she asked him.
The attendant – just a little taller than her, with thick, dark blue hair, stood up straighter and let out a forced, nervous laugh. "Just, um–" he started, "–it's, um, a huge responsibility, you know. Taking care of the heroes of Tokyo Mew Mew."
Lettuce and Pudding's attendants disappeared with them one after the other. Ichigo had a strange feeling in her gut about the attendant who stood next to her. Something about his answer seemed forced.
Ira glanced between Ichigo and her attendant, brows raised, before Ichigo began to feel the ground dropping beneath her feet.
Ichigo closed her eyes and felt the wind rushing around her, blowing her hair around her face as they teleported. Eyes screwed shut, she silently prayed that they would end up in the same place as Lettuce and Pudding. Could she really trust the man transporting her right now? What would happen if she ended up somewhere other than the old palace?
When she finally felt her feet touch ground again, Ichigo's eyes flew open, and she immediately tore herself away from the attendant and took two steps back. Thankfully, she found Lettuce and Pudding next to her, fixing their hair after their teleportation. Ira appeared a moment later and glanced between the three girls with a smile.
They'd all arrived in the same place.
Ichigo looked back up at the attendant who had escorted her, and found that he was already watching her. As soon as they made eye contact, he looked away and pursed his lips. Ichigo decided not to press the issue further. Maybe he was just nervous. Maybe she'd just offended him by putting distance between them so suddenly.
"Alright, mews, you're already a little late, so please follow me to where the rest of the ladies are queuing for the entrance to the festival opening ceremony," Ira instructed.
Ichigo caught up to Lettuce and Pudding as they rushed through the hall of the old building, lit by lanterns on the sides of its stone walls. The whole place vaguely smelled of dust and soil. Ira pulled her tablet out from under her arm and began to tap through it as she strode with purpose around a corner, then drifted up a stairwell. Ichigo lifted her skirts and tried her best not to trip over her dress as she ascended the narrow stairs, cursing the fact that she couldn't fly up them like Ira.
"We're almost there," Ira reassured them when they reached the top, "just down this hall here, and you'll be placed in order you'll be exiting the old palace down to the grounds. I just received the instruction for which order you'll be placed in the queue. It appears as though you are a bit spread out, so I'll show you where to stand."
Sure enough, the four of them came upon a bustle of chatter, women in ornate outfits and attendants primping and pruning the hair of the ladies standing in a neat line at the open doorway of a large, grand set of double doors.
"Wait, what are we doing?" Lettuce asked nervously.
"You're lining up in order, so that you can walk down to the opening ceremonies as couples," Ira called over the noise of the activity around them. "Now, Pudding, you're here – third from the front."
She stood and pointed to a spot between a beautiful woman with lilac hair and a silky silver dress, and another woman – older – who was wearing a gown that was set with a cascade of tiny, shimmering green crystals. Both turned to look back at the mews as soon as Ira addressed them. The older woman's gaze swept over all three of them before landing on Ichigo. She looked between Ichigo's face, then up at her headpiece, then back down at Ichigo with an expression like she had just smelled something foul. The other woman with the silver dress beamed when she saw them, grinning and motioning for Pudding to come join her. When she turned towards them, Ichigo noticed that the woman in the silver dress was very pregnant.
Pudding grinned and turned to wave back at Lettuce and Ichigo. Pudding's dress was cupcake-style — a red, fluffy affair with translucent balloon sleeves that cinched at her wrists. Her sleeve billowed in the air as she waved back and forth — "I'll see you down there!"
Ira motioned to Lettuce. "You'll be one place ahead of Ichigo, here," she indicated. "And Ichigo, you'll be the second to last out, after Lettuce."
Lettuce and Ichigo shuffled into place in the queue. The girl who would be last in the queue stepped back to make room for them, studying their outfits with fascination. The last girl in line was young — about Ichigo's age, she figured — with a radiant white satin dress and light blue hair done up in a bun.
"Now..." Ira started once the girls were in place. She paused to glance over at Pudding, but she was already busy making friends with the woman next to her in line, and wasn't paying attention. Ira shook her head to herself and continued. "...now, here's what will happen. You'll all be queued out in order so that you meet your date at the bottom of the stairs. You'll be walking out in pairs to the palace grounds, where you'll be lined up behind the Emperor while he gives his speech. After that, you should be free to roam about the party for a bit. Okay?"
Lettuce and Ichigo exchanged glances, then nodded.
"Good," Ira said with a nod. Her attention snapped to the doorway, where the first girl in the queue was just leaving. "Oh, gods, we must be later than I thought – they're sending you out already." She turned her attention to Lettuce's hair, tucking a stray hair behind her ear as Ichigo and Lettuce moved up in the queue. "Now, I'll catch up with you three throughout the evening, but I'd ask that you please stay with your date. I can't clone myself, and I can't be attending to all three of you at once. And please, for the love of all that is good, please don't do anything reckless. Okay?"
Ira looked up to where Pudding was standing at the doorway. "Oh no ... her bow is loose in the back," she muttered to herself. And with that, Ira was darting over to Pudding and fussing with her dress, leaving Ichigo and Lettuce to themselves in the line.
Ichigo began to play with a lock of hair. "Nervous?" she asked Lettuce.
Lettuce nodded. She was fidgeting with one of the delicate silver rings on her fingers, eyes wide as she glanced between Ichigo and the rest of the dates of the council's dates. Both girls looked to the front of the line when they heard Pudding's excited cry of: "My turn? Yay!" She bounded out the door in a whirl of fiery red fabric and disappeared around the corner. Ira followed after her, yelling after her about something to do with a missing shoe.
Both girls giggled at the same time. "Excited, too," Lettuce added. "But yes, nervous. I don't really like being the center of attention. It's all a bit much, you know?"
"If it helps, you both look amazing!"
Ichigo and Lettuce turned to the girl last in line. She beamed up at both girls with a wide smile. She had smokey grey eyes that swirled with warmth. "I'm Kori," she introduced herself. "And you're Mew Ichigo and Mew Lettuce, right?"
"Just Ichigo is fine," Ichigo said with a laugh. "It's nice to meet you, Kori!"
"Yes, so nice to meet you!" Lettuce added.
"Ichigo, you're Quiche's date, right? And Lettuce is Pie's date?" Kori asked, tilting her head to one side. Ichigo noted that her accent was very slight, her Japanese immaculate.
Ichigo exchanged glances with Lettuce, then nodded. "That's right," Ichigo said. "Who are you going with?"
"I'm seeing Orion right now," Kori said bashfully. She began to fidget with her nails. "We're sort of a couple, but it's really new. I've never been a part of the Solstice Festival as the date of a prince … I'm pretty nervous too, kind of like you two."
Ichigo nodded. All three girls stepped further up in the line as more girls ahead of them headed down.
Ichigo wondered to herself how old Kori was – after hearing her speak, Ichigo wondered if she might be even younger than her.
"Well, it's good to know we're not the only ones who are feeling anxious!" Ichigo offered with a smile. "Congratulations on your new relationship."
Kori blushed. She giggled and smoothed out the hair behind her long, elven ears. "Oh, um, thank you. It's so romantic going to the festival together, you know? Are you two excited to have dates, too?"
Ichigo, thinking quickly, replied without missing a beat: "Oh, Lettuce and I are going with Pie and Quiche as friends. But yes, it will be very romantic for you and Orion to go together as a couple!"
"Ah, so sorry to assume!" Kori scrambled, waving her hands in front of her face. "Of course, yes, you're going with them as friends. That probably takes the pressure off a bit, right?"
"Definitely!" Lettuce chimed in. She giggled forcefully; Ichigo cringed.
Lettuce was proving to be an even worse liar than she was.
Thankfully, Lettuce was next in line to head down to the ground level of the palace. The attendant at the door tapped through something on the tablet she was holding before nodding to Lettuce. "Okay, you may proceed. Turn left out the door, then go to the edge of the hall and head down the staircase on your right."
Lettuce turned to Ichigo and let out a long, nervous breath. Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement.
"You've got this," Ichigo reassured her with a smile. "I'll see you after the speech?"
Lettuce nodded. "Yes! I'll see you soon." She turned and headed out the door, then turned to her left. Ichigo heard her footsteps grow softer as she grew further away. The room that had been so loud just a few minutes before was now a quiet shuffle of attendants chatting with each other in Loq, and cleaning up after the mess of hair, makeup and dressing clothes. Ichigo could hear the distant buzz of a crowd of people outside the palace. The sound of it made the nerves in her stomach kick up again.
"Hey, Ichigo?" Kori asked, capturing Ichigo's attention once more. Ichigo turned to blink down at the shorter girl. "I'm really glad we got to talk. Maybe I can find you at the party later when we have our dates, and we can all talk more?"
Ichigo didn't want to break it to Kori that she was upset with her boyfriend – or that Quiche seemed to curse the ground he walked on ever since their welcoming party. How would she tell Kori that Orion had treated her disrespectfully the past few days without upsetting her? It would ruin her whole night. Instead, Ichigo smiled and nodded.
"Sure," she agreed. "That would be great!"
Hopefully, Ichigo thought, Orion would veto the idea of mingling with her and Quiche during the party. Though Kori seemed nice – Ichigo was a bit sad that she didn't get along well with Kori's date.
"Okay, Mew Ichigo, your turn," the female attendant at the door announced. "Left out the door, walk to the edge of the hall and down the staircase on your right."
Ichigo let out a long breath. Her stomach jumped as she picked up her skirts.
"You'll be fine," Kori reassured her from behind.
Ichigo turned and smiled. "You, too!" she said. Then, she was walking out the double doors and down the long, empty hall.
The closer she got to the end of the hall, the harder Ichigo could feel the blood pumping in her ears. She could hear the chatter outside louder and louder, along with the sound of musicians playing something that sounded like string instruments. When she finally reached the end of the hall and turned right to turn and head down the staircase, she was momentarily stunned by what she assumed was the palace atrium.
It was a grand, glass-covered front to the massive stone building, lit with orange lamplight and draped with something that looked like wisteria winding into its interior. Like the rest of its halls, the architecture in this part of the old palace was notably less modern than the compound she'd been staying in – it was old, ornate and detailed with painted ceramic tiles, carrying a style that reminded Ichigo of ancient palaces she'd seen in history books on Earth. The grandeur of the palace combined with the sound of the party outside carrying through the palace's entrance stopped Ichigo in her tracks. Peering down to the floor below, she could see Pie and Lettuce making their way towards the double doors leading outside, Lettuce's hand on Pie's arm.
Ichigo ran her fingertips over the banister of the stairs – marble-like, smooth and cold – and let her gaze drift from over everything in the vast atrium. Finally, her eyes fell to a sudden movement from the other side of the stairs. The figure striding around the corner of the opposite hall was straightening some kind of collar. Ichigo didn't realize until they turned the corner and started down the first step that it was Quiche.
He looked like he was dressed in night.
His long, black coat flowed behind him as he descended the staircase, the gold-embroidered edges of the coat catching in the dim light of the atrium. He was busy pulling at the cuffs of the slim-fitting sleeves when he caught Ichigo's eye, looked her up and down just briefly, and smirked.
That stupid, dangerous smirk.
Self-absorbed jerk, Ichigo thought begrudgingly. He probably knows he looks good.
She forced herself to pick up her skirts and take one step – then another – down the stairs of the west wing. She continued down the steps with great care, keeping her eyes on her feet to keep from tripping over her dress. Once she finally reached the landing below, she let go of the long, silky skirt with a sigh of relief.
Before she'd even finished exhaling, she felt a hand slip under hers. Her head shot up, and she realized with a start that Quiche was already standing to her left, ready to guide her to the doors. His gold irises flashed with something electric as their eyes met.
She realized, then, that Quiche's coat and Ichigo's dress matched – perfectly. Too perfectly to be a coincidence. But before she could comment on it, Quiche was guiding Ichigo towards the open doors with a step forward and a light pull on her hand.
"You're late to the party again, kitten," he remarked. "Did Ira hide all of the clocks in your room?"
"We're not that late!" Ichigo protested, scowling. "We're right on time! You're just being rude."
"I'm just pointing out that you always showed up in time to kick my ass and save Tokyo, but can't show up on time to any of our parties," Quiche replied coolly.
He shot Ichigo a side-eyed grin. Ichigo's frown deepened.
"Why do you always have to be so mean?" Ichigo whined. "You couldn't, I don't know, say I look nice or something?"
"Hm," Quiche hummed in amusement. They were nearly to the door leading out to the courtyard. Ichigo could see out to the mass of people gathered at the steps of the older building – laughing, chatting, and watching Lettuce and Pie take their place halfway down the stairs, where Ichigo could see the Emperor standing at some kind of podium.
"I've always enjoyed toying with you, kitten," Quiche said as they neared the entrance of the door. "It's more fun that way. Besides, you don't need me to tell you that you look like a dream. You already know it."
He said it so confidently, so assuredly – like he always did. And Ichigo couldn't help but believe it, too.
He was right. She didn't need him to tell her she looked beautiful. She already knew it.
So, when Ichigo and Quiche stepped out together through the doors of the old palace and on to the upper landing of the stone staircase outside, Ichigo picked up her skirt with her free hand, lifted her eyes and straightened her posture. When they reached the first step of the staircase, Ichigo tilted her chin upwards and forced herself to take her first step down the stairs without looking at her feet.
It was only after the first step did she realize that a dull hush had fallen over the crowd. Ichigo felt panic rising in her chest. Was something wrong with her dress? Did she look silly? Over-the-top? Was her hair out of place? She forced herself to remain calm, confidently continuing down the steps with Quiche's guidance, eyes roaming over the party-goers watching them with wide eyes.
"Why are they all staring at us?" Ichigo whispered through her teeth.
Quiche didn't reply right away. Ichigo's eyes darted to her left for a moment, and she found that Quiche's smirk had returned, wider than before. He walked next to her with his shoulders back, his posture practically dripping with confidence.
"Ears," he replied simply.
Ichigo puzzled over the reply for a half-second.
Then, she flexed her ears, and found the muscles twitching on the top of her head.
Her cat ears were out. How? When? Something in the past few minutes had triggered an emotional response that brought out her cat ears without her even realizing they'd appeared.
Ichigo would normally panic and attempt to hide the ears as quickly as possible in her normal, human form. But here, now, on this strange planet with a crowd of people who lauded her as the leader of Tokyo Mew Mew, everyone knew her secret. Everyone knew the power she held. And so Ichigo didn't worry over the hushed whispers and looks of awe on the faces of the crowd. The other members of the council were turning now to watch them descend down the stairs and take their place directly to the left of the Emperor.
When Ichigo and Quiche had both settled in place to the left of the stone podium, Quiche's hand left Ichigo's and fell instead to the small of her back. A little jolt shot up her spine as his fingertips found a spot of bare skin on her lower back, between the criss-cross fabric that made up the bodice of her dress. Ichigo felt the thunderous beating of her pulse in her ears.
It reminded her of when she'd first arrived on the planet just a few days ago – looking out into a crowd of fascinated stares fixated on her – the foreigner, the leader of Tokyo Mew Mew.
But this time, as Ichigo dropped the skirt of her dress and settled into place next to Quiche, she didn't feel as scared of the wondrous eyes watching her. After everything she'd been through over the past few days, Ichigo felt like she'd begun to find her place in their society. Maybe she wouldn't ever be like Lettuce – educated in their language, an official scholar of their court. But in front of all of these people, she could be Ichigo. Cat ears and all.
So, Ichigo lifted her chin and smiled.
Some of the onlookers' attention fell off of her as Ichigo heard the sound of steps behind her — Orion and his date, she figured. But Ichigo still captured the attention of many of the party-goers, who whispered among each other in a chorus of hushed words and excited tones. Ichigo glanced to her left, behind the Emperor standing at the podium. Orion was in the familiar position of the Emperor's right hand side, with his date, Kori to his left.
Ichigo noted with curiosity that she was closest to the Emperor on his left — not Quiche. Too late to switch places, she thought to herself as she refocused her attention to the crowd gathered around the stairs. The music began to die down. Ichigo flinched slightly when the Emperor cleared his throat.
Ichigo was momentarily confused when the Emperor began speaking, but she realized in the next instant that he was delivering the speech in Loq. Of course. Not everyone in the crowd was military, or had ties to the government. It made sense he'd give the speech in their native tongue.
Ichigo began to lose focus as the Emperor's speech continued in the foreign language. She let her gaze idly sweep over the crowd, and found a few eyes still watching her. Towards the back of the gathering of guests, she spotted two younger women she'd never seen before, whispering between themselves and pointing between herself and Quiche. Ichigo tried not to focus too intently on their interaction, but her eyes fell back on the pair when she saw the other woman point to the other side of the podium, towards Orion, and whisper something back. The first woman shook her head.
Ichigo furrowed her brow. They were talking about the princes and their dates. Ichigo began to itch with curiosity over what kind of gossip could be swirling throughout the crowd.
A small chorus of claps broke out through the crowd. The Emperor waited for the sound to die down before continuing with a short statement and a smile. Ichigo figured the speech was probably over. Another small chorus of claps, and the music started back up again. Ichigo let out a sigh of relief as the party-goers began to chat amongst themselves and shuffle off to different parts of the palace grounds in groups. The Emperor ascended up the steps and back into the palace. Ichigo wondered if he intended to join in the festivities at all.
She craned her neck to the left and right, looking for her friends. It didn't take long — Pudding was already dragging Tart over to where she stood. The rest of the princes and their dates began to chit-chat with each other on the landing of the stairs. Quiche's hand slipped from her back to her waist, and Ichigo felt him step a little closer as Tart and Pudding approached.
"Did you understand any of that?" Pudding complained as soon as she reached Ichigo. "I mean, he sounded cool, but he could've been talking about what he had for breakfast this morning, for all I know!"
"You didn't miss much," Tart said, tearing his wrist from Pudding's iron grip. He smoothed his short, scarlet coat and straightened the high collar indignantly. "It was the standard stuff — unity this, rising from the darkness that. He's given a new version of the same speech every year."
"Sounds boring!" Pudding remarked.
"I was curious whether or not he'd address you three in his speech," Quiche added. "I suppose he went the safe route, by keeping the whole thing vaguely about 'unity' and all that."
"Yeah, like you aren't already going to cause a riot," Tart remarked. His amber stare settled accusingly on Ichigo. "Nice entrance with the ears. Fishing for attention, old hag?"
"It was an accident!" Ichigo protested. "I didn't even realize they'd come out until I was halfway down the stairs!"
"Hey, Ichigo!" Lettuce called from her right. Ichigo turned to welcome Lettuce and Pie into their conversation. Lettuce folded her hands in front of her and smiled sheepishly. "I suppose my Loq is worse than I thought. That speech was hard to understand."
"We were just saying you didn't miss much," Ichigo said with a grin. "Apparently the speech was pretty—"
"Shit."
Ichigo frowned and looked up at Quiche. "It couldn't have been that—"
"No, not the speech," Quiche muttered. He grimaced and cleared his throat, turning his shoulders from the party guests.
Ichigo was about to ask what his problem was, before she saw someone ascending the stairs, calling out with a loud, jovial tone — "Well, well! Look at my little prince!"
Ichigo blinked, studying the woman ascending the stairs with a wide grin and a silky black dress that perfectly complimented her short, glossy black hair. It wasn't until she drew closer that Ichigo realized the woman was older — maybe twice Ichigo's age. Her muscled arms and slim, tall build made her look so much younger at first glance.
Quiche let out a long sigh and turned around with an eye roll. He crossed his arms and scowled. Ichigo looked between Quiche and the woman as she reached the landing of the stairs. It was then that Ichigo saw her bright, glimmering gold eyes.
"Well, aren't you two quite the pair?" the woman remarked. She glanced between Quiche's scowl and Ichigo's bewildered face before adding: "So, are you going to introduce me?"
Quiche let out a gruff sigh.
"Ichigo…" Quiche groaned, "...meet my mother."