It's hard to believe that it was already time to head back home. Already I was packing my suitcase and making sure I wasn't leaving anything behind. Masaya was on the other side of the room, also packing his things as well. It was weird seeing everything going back into luggage after living here for so long. Even after only a week, this place seemed to embed itself into my memories as one of the best times I have had. Sighing, I closed my suitcase and started to carry it to the door and haul it downstairs, where the others would be waiting soon.

College Mew Mew 19

By: Satashi

"All ready?" Keiichiro asked me as he loaded my luggage for me into the van. Nodding, I answered him and climbed in myself, sitting next to Pudding. She was holding a pillow and leaning against the window, sleeping lightly. The sun hadn't even come up yet, but it was a long drive back and most of us had classes in the morning as well.

Mint sat next to me, eyes drooping as well. Snuggling deeper into her coat, she sighed and rested her head against the headrest in front of her. In front of us, Zakuro and Lettuce were already seated. Ryou would be driving with Keiichiro in the passenger seat. Masaya would join us on the back row of the van, making it a tight and cramped fit.

"Start the van up already," I complained, hugging myself as the side door closed after Masaya hopped in. "I'm freezing."

The back of the van closed as well, and Keiichiro soon got into the driver's seat. "We're going to pick up Ryou at the lounge and then drive a bit before breakfast. Everyone okay with that?"

"As long as it involves heat, I'm okay for anything," Zakuro replied quickly.

The ride back home was long and uncomfortable, but we still stopped several times at random tourist traps along the way to take more pictures and buy different things that we would all lose within a week. I didn't mind, though. I had always loved road trips like this, and collecting small cute things as we went on them. I was sure that this would be the last one we all took together for a while, so I wanted to be sure I had many things to remember it by. Already I had taken over six rolls of film during the week, and was starting to work on my seventh one on the way home.

We dropped Lettuce off first, followed closely by Pudding. Zakuro was staying at an Extended Inn while filming here, so she was the next stop on the way back. Mint was next, soon followed by Masaya and myself. Not surprisingly, it was already night time by the time we got to our apartment. Unloading the van was slow and sleepy, and I just barely managed to give Keiichiro and Ryou a hug for taking us all with them on their vacation.

The sight of my apartment was nice to see, if not a little odd after living somewhere else for a while. Sitting the suitcase down, I turned on the heat and immediately started changing for bed, even if it was earlier than I normally went to sleep. I was tired and tomorrow would be the first day back to class after a much needed break. I felt ready for it, though, as Ryou had still tutored me at least an hour a day while gone.

Climbing into the bed, I snuggled against a pillow and closed my eyes, listening to Masaya talk to Mark on his cell phone, telling him we made it safely back and he would meet him early in the morning for the club gathering. After a moment, I felt the bed sink in and then his arms around my waist. Sighing contently, I purred lightly in my throat and was soon asleep, dreaming.

I smiled at my Japanese History teacher as I handed in the small three-ring binder that contained all of my make-up work and assignments. She was pleasantly surprised that I had actually done it, and promised me that she would look through and review it as soon as she could, and have my grade ready for me by next week. Bowing lightly, I said my thanks and then hurried off to my Track class.

My coach greeted me happily and my teammates and I all chatted with each other quickly about what we did over our vacation before having to start running laps across the field. Of course, this didn't stop us from continuing to talk through pants for air until our coach told us that if we didn't pay attention to where we were going we would have to make a few extra laps.

After class was over, my teacher called me off to the side for a quick word with me. "Momomiya, have you settled your little shyness issues yet?" She asked me, looking my attire over. Once again I was wearing a tight baseball cap and wind pants. "You know you have to wear the standard issued clothing when competing."

"I know," I answered her softly. "But, but what if you tell them that I-"

"Momomiya, you know I can't do that." She looked a little saddened for me. "Either you get over being shy with your body, or I Rachael will take your place for the competition. That's the bottom line." I felt my shoulders sag, and she placed her hands on them, trying to cheer me up. "Look, I know this means a lot to you, so place do your best, okay? It's only a pair of shorts, what are you so worried about? I see you all the time without that cap on as well. Why do you insist on wearing them?"

I flushed, thinking quickly of a way to answer her. "Good luck charms," I managed out weakly, smiling lightly as I did so.

She sighed at me. "Go get to your next class before you're late. I'll see you Wednesday."

"Yes mam." I turned and sprinted off to the changing room.

"So far it's been a good day," I told Keiichiro as I walked out of the changing room, now in my working cloths. "Although I missed my cat nap." I yawned as I walked over to him, covering my mouth half way though. "The big jerk, stealing my bed like that."

"It's his bed," He reminded me playfully before we heard the bell ring above the door. "Ah, our first customer of the day."

"I'm on it." I ran to the door to the café part of the restaurant and smiled. "Welcome! May I show you to a- oh, Masaya, Mark!"

"Yo." Mark waved, looking around. "Busy I see."

"They just opened." Masaya told him, shoving his arm lightly. "Come on, let's get some food."

"Tell her already man!"

"Mark, you ruin everything, you know that?"

"Hey, I try."

"Tell me what?" I asked, showing them to a table and handing them both menus. "If you're going to England again, I'm going to gnaw your ankles off."

Mark made a sound like a hissing cat, but shut up when Masaya kicked him under the table. As his best friend's eyes went wide and he sagged down to rub his shin, he spoke to me. "I'm not going anywhere, that's the thing. The Kendo tournament will be held here, in the dome."

"Oh wow, the same place as my track meet!?"

"Yup." He winked at me. "Everything is. It's going to be like a mini-Olympics for all the colleges around here. Just found out today."

"Oh wow!" I smiled brightly. "This is going to be really cool. I was worried about going off to a place I didn't know to do this."

"I'm kind of hungry; can you two save the flirting until after I eat please?"

"Oh, sorry!" I pulled the pen from my ear and my tablet from the pocket on my skirt. "What would you like today, Mark?"

He grinned. "Super double bacon cheeseburger and a large milkshake. Chocolate, of course."

"And after you have a heart attack from all that?" I teased him.

"Oh yeah. Greasy huh? Better give me a large order of fries as well. That should do it. Be sure to put this on the same ticket, Masaya's paying."

"Some friend you are." My boyfriend snorted out. "Give me the same, but I want a strawberry shake." He winked at me, making me blush and scribble a little on the order.

"Has to have fries with his shake," Mark cooed out as I walked off. I was about to yell at him, but I heard the chair scoot back and him yelp in pain from another kick from Masaya. "Dang man, that hurts! I'm going to kick you're-"

"Order up!" I shouted out, covering Mark's swearing. "Give my two friends some grease ball burgers would you?" I clipped the receipt onto the turner and spun it around for Keiichiro to look at. I was about to make some small talk with him while he cooked, but the door opened again. "Welcome!" I called out, returning. "May I show you to a table?"

"So that's it, huh?" Kish's voice floated through my cell phone clearly. I was amazed at this, considering he normally liked to hang out in a rip in our dimension. I figured his voice would be full of static. "Should I come now?"

"We're not all together yet. Zakuro, Masaya, and Pudding are here. Mint and Lettuce are closing at the café. They'll come with Ryou and Keiichiro. Ah, wait, I think that's them pulling up."

"Coming."

"Ah, Kish!" In the next moment, four aliens appeared into my apartment. Zakuro and Pudding shot into a standing position, but Masaya was already there, glaring at Kish as if he could kill him with just a look. "The first person to attack, I'm going to bite, understand me?" I glared at both of them. "We are going to discus a peace treaty here, and I will have none of your rivalry tonight. Are we clear?"

"Fine," Masaya fell back onto the couch.

Kish smirked. "I groove on that pissed off look."

Incred was about to open his mouth, but I glared at him as well. "That goes for you too." He shut it, and looked away, muttering to Kish something about 'I told you she don't like me.'

A Moment later, my door was knocked on while it was being opened. Ryou walked into the living room first, nodding at the aliens in a professional manor. Following him, Keiichiro and the girls sat down as well on the couch. The aliens took to hovering in the air in a seated position since there weren't enough chairs or room for them.

After a small silence, Ryou spoke up. "I'll speak for our group."

"I'll speak for mine," Kish replied, now turning to him. "As you are aware, I have asked Ichigo to relay a message of a truce. I'm glad you want to discuss this with us."

"I am curious at why you want to do this," Ryou replied calmly. He never seemed to stop amazing me at how mature he could be, even after all this time. "Why now? Why not when you first came here?"

"At the time, it was not in our best interest." Kish told him. "We were going to collect them all and return before any type of war broke out. After battling against each other several times, I have come to realize that if we go into this last battle as a free-for-all...well..."

"People will die," I whispered, suddenly realizing it. Masaya put his arm around me, but I somehow didn't feel as comfortable as I normally did.

"And the terms of this truce are?"

Kish floated in the air a moment, debating how to word his next statement. "We will fight against Saucer and his group with you. With our power, you should not have to use the Mew Aqua to battle. We'll risk our lives to help you, asking only in return that you give us whatever was not used in the battle to save our planet."

"How do we know you are not lying?"

I was about to tell Ryou not to say such things, but Kish spoke first. "I wouldn't lie about something as important as saving countless lives. They are waiting on us, hoping that we can spare them from the harsh conditions of their planet." Kish looked over at me a moment before looking back at Ryou. "I pledge my life that it's the truth."

He held out his hand, forming a medium size box. Opening it up, he revealed several small vials containing what looked like a clear liquid of pure energy. "These are our Mew Aqua drops," He explained, flying down just enough to place it on the table. "You can keep them until the battle is over. We are prepared to do everything we can before using these. Even dieing."

I gasped, felling my throat go dry. "As long as one of us survives, we will have completed our mission. We will not use these to fight." Kish was...not sure he would survive? Is Saucer really that strong?

Ryou looked at the box a moment before motioning to it. "May I?" After getting a nod from Pai, he pulled out a vile and then reached under his shirt to pull out a necklace that had a seal around one of our drops. Checking it, he nodded. "They're real alright." Turning to us, he spoke again. "Girls. Have you all decided?"

Zakuro was the first to lean forward, setting down two small crystals like containers holding her drops. "We will win easily if we work together."

Pudding sat down three small drops. "I'll fight with them." She looked at Tart and smiled. "I'll fight with Tart."

Tart blushed and looked away.

Mint placed her single drop down, followed By Lettuce's drop as well. The two looked at each other and nodded. Finally it was done to me. Swallowing, I pulled the ribbon off my wrist and unclipped three small vials from it, setting them down as well. "Here are all of mine."

The clutter of drops all seemed to shine together, pulsating a light that filled the room and my heart all at once. I felt warm, strong, just like I did all those years ago when I had held an actual pure source. It was calming and invigorating all at the same time. Every ounce of my body wanted to call out in pleasure and relax in the feeling too.

When I opened my eyes, there were four small crystal bottles with a heart shaped stopper in each. Everyone seemed to be looking at them. Finally, I reached out and picked one up. "It feels...nice." I spoke out, smiling. "It's a Mew Aqua pure source...Just like I remember."

"Four," Kish stated, looking at them. "Incred, how many did they have?"

"At most three."

"What?" I looked up at him. "There's no way! I got one of your pure sources already and used it!"

"You think the only time we got a drop was when we ran into you?" He asked, amazed. "Of course we got several without having to fight, just like you did!"

"Calm down, no need to shout." Kish told him, waving it off. "Even if they have three, we have one more than them...If...If it comes down to it, we can use them and still have one to take back. That will be enough to survive to make a new source of power to let us live on the surface."

"So it's a deal." Ryou stood and extended his hand. "Truce. We work as a team."

Kish hovered over to him and shook Ryou's hand, a sight I never thought I'd ever see. "Truce," Kish replied with a smile. "Together nothing can stop us."

"Are you okay, Ichigo?" Masaya asked me, sitting down on the bed and placing a hand on my back. I didn't answer him right off. Instead I shifted lightly to get more comfortable and make room for him so he wouldn't be sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I don't know," I finally spoke after what seemed like a long while. Turning to look at him, I asked the question that has been on my mind ever since earlier that evening. "Masaya...Is everything going to be okay?"

"I..." He paused a moment to think. "I think it will be okay if you believe in yourself and the others." His hand rubbed my back lightly. It felt really nice and soothing. "Don't worry, Ichigo, it's nine against four. It will be over before you know it."

"Last time it was six on three and we still barely won..." His hand stopped rubbing and instantly I felt horrible. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay. I know." His hand started to move again, but I still felt bad about brining up the past about him and Deep Blue. "No one is as powerful as Deep Blue, I know better than anyone. Not Even the Blue Knight can stand up to that kind of power." His hand went to my head, where it fingered my hair. "And yet, Kish can fight evenly with Saucer and fend him off. I can beat Kish with only a little difficulty. With everyone else, it won't last more than twenty minuets. Ichigo, you can stay here."

"I can't."

"You can." He moved and was laying half on top of me, holding both my hands. "No one has to fight. I'll do everything I can so you won't have to."

"Thanks, but we both know I will."

"I'm sorry this has to happen."

I shook my head lightly. "Nuh-uh. It's no one's place to apologize for it." Turning to look at him, I gave him a small smile to reassure him. "I'm glad you care. It means a lot to me. I'll be able to do this as long as you're by me."

I felt his lips touch mine and I knew that with him we would be able to prevail over the aliens. With everyone together we could do it.

It will be okay.