Chapter 18

"Afterwards"

Ryou picked Victoria up and held her in his arms. He smiled as Victoria yawned. Mint walked to them and yelled, "Wake up Victoria! This is no time to be sleeping!" Victoria put her hand on Mint's face and dragged it off while making a growling sound. She woke up to see she was in Ryou's arms. She gasped and fell out of his arms. Everyone started laughing, as did Victoria.

"Well, it looks like we should be heading back home. Let's go Pai and Tart," Kish said as he turned away.

"Wait Kish! I want to give you something," Victoria said. She got out her Mini Blue and handed it to Kish. "Don't you dare forget me."

"I promise I won't. Heck, one day I'll be back to visit you," he replied. He embraced Victoria. She then looked up at him and told him goodbye. He kissed her and flew away. Pai flew away and Tart was about to but Pudding stopped him.

"Are you leaving too," she asked.

"Yeah. I have nothing else to do on this planet," Tart replied. Pudding kissed him and gave him candy drops. She started crying.

"I'll give you these and these because…well…I don't want this to be goodbye forever," she said.

"Like Kish said, I'll probably be back," he said. They hugged and he flew away. The tree aliens turned back and said at the same time, "Farewell." Ryou threw the mew aqua at Pai and told him that they will protect the planet. Pai said that they would make the planet more beautiful. They finally left.

"Let's get back to the café. I really need a lot of tea," Mint said. Everyone headed to the café. Ryou and Victoria were walking behind everyone.

"You did a great job Victoria. I'm proud of you," Ryou told her.

"Thanks. It was a good thing you showed up. If you hadn't, I would have still been a Kirema anima and Deep Blue would've destroyed everyone for sure. Thanks to you, I changed back. You're my hero," Victoria said and made Ryou blush when she smiled. He held her hand and she stood closer to him. Victoria then laid her head on his shoulder while blushing. They arrived at the café but Ichigo went to Masaya's house. Keiichiro had prepared some desserts and tea for the girls. The girls rushed to the food and sat down. Ryou sat with Victoria and Mint started looking at them but didn't say anything. The girls have finished their desserts and Victoria stood up.

"I'm going home to take a really long nap. See you guys tomorrow," she said. Keiichiro told Ryou to walk her home since it's almost nighttime and she doesn't have a ride. Ryou agreed and walked Victoria home. Victoria opened the door and said goodnight, as did Ryou. She paused while shutting the door.

"Hey Ryou. If you want, you can sleep over tonight. I've never had someone sleep over and since you're here…maybe you can," she said as she blushed. "Lately, I've also been getting nightmares and I can't sleep at night."

"If you really want me to, then I guess I can," he replied. He walked in and looked at Victoria. He smiled and ran up the stairs. Victoria followed him and saw him on her bed saying, "I call this bed." Victoria quickly took a pillow and hit Ryou in the face. They started a pillow fight and stopped 30 minutes later. They lay on Victoria's bed. Ryou turned to the side and put his arm over Victoria.

"What are you doing," she asked. Ryou made a fake snoring sound in her ear and then laughed. They both started cracking up. After that, Victoria got out a pack of uno cards and played against Ryou. After an hour, they started playing music and danced with each other. They started getting really tired and Ryou went to sleep in Victoria's bed. Victoria slept in a room across the hall.