The Past Bites
Me: Well, weren't we all shocked by the last chapter!
Kalaa: Lettuce had a child by...Pai?
Kaiyo: Hiya!
Kalaa: (jumps) When did you get into the author's note?
Me: I brought him in! Now, my two OCs! THE DISCLAIMER!
Kalaa&Kaiyo: BladeofMoonlight does not own TMM or MMP, but she does own us.
Chapter 4
Kaiyo looked between the two woman in confusion. "Uh, mom? Is something wrong? What's a half-alien?"
"Nothing, Kaiyo." Lettuce replied swiftly, giving her child a hug. "Why don't you wait in your room for me? I'll be there in a few minuets."
Kaiyo's eyes brightened again. "Okay!" He scampered down the hall.
Ichigo took a deep breath, trying to recover from the shock of her recent discovery. "Lettuce, how? Why? I thought you loved..."
"I did, I do love Ryou!" Lettuce replied hastily. "Well, part of me did, anyway...it's just...that look Pai gave me before he died saving us...it was like my heart was split in two...and the night before they left he came to see me...and I just lost control...because I'd never see him again..." Her voice was racked with shame and grief. "I didn't realize he had gotten me pregnant until much later, and I didn't have it in me to have an abortion preformed. I just couldn't kill that little child, but I couldn't face you guys or Ryou either. So I arranged for Kaiyo to live here."
Ichigo's find darted back to the month after the aliens left, a little before Kish had given her that 'surprise' visit. Lettuce told them she'd be working oversees with her nurse mentor, and flat-out vanished for nine months straight. Then she came back and acted normal. She would not have known Kaiyo existed if she hadn't come here to find out who had kidnapped Kalaa.
"Does he know?" She asked.
"Huh?"
"Does Kaiyo know?" Ichigo repeated. "Does he know his father is an alien?"
Lettuce shook her head. "I never told him who his father was."
"Why?"
"He's a child, Ichigo, he's innocent and naïve and doesn't know anything about the history we have with the aliens or the attacks on earth. Even if he did believe it, he wouldn't think it meant much, and he might tell people. That's why."
"So you just told him he had no father?" Ichigo demanded. "You don't tell him why he has to live like a prisoner inside this hospital, never to leave or understand why he has to stay here, to live a life of solitude? You can't be honest with him, with us?"
Lettuce's eyes snapped open. "What would you know?" She shot back forcefully. "You didn't tell us Kish got you pregnant, and when you did, you couldn't face Mayasa so you left her in the snow without a second thought! At least I didn't leave Kaiyo to die!"
Ichigo jerked backwards as if she had been forcefully smacked across the face. There was a heavy silence, which was eventually broken by Lettuce's sobs. "Gomen." She said weakly. "Gomen. I...I just lost control. I...I don't get to see Kaiyo that much, but when I do...he always makes me to happy...wanted and...this new feeling...if I lost him, if something happened to him because of my foolishness, I-I don't know what I'd..." She broke off and started to sob.
Ichigo walked over and put her hands on Lettuce's shoulders. "I'm sorry too Lettuce, I had no right to snap at you. You found a place for Kaiyo to live; you didn't try to pretend you had never screwed up the way I did."
"Ichigo-san..."
"Yes?"
"Please promise me you won't tell anyone about Kaiyo! Please! I don't want anything to happen to him...please..." Lettuce looked at her friend desperately.
"It's okay." Ichigo said calmly. "My lips are sealed."
Lettuce's eyes welled up with tears. "Thank you." She hugged her friend, and then they left together.
/Kalaa's P.O.V.
Kalaa slipped to the floor, transforming back from her mew form, and looked around. "I could have sworn I heard mommy's voice..." An image appeared in her mind; one where she was sitting on her mother's lap, reading a book, with her father standing next to them. She paused, then shook her head wildly, attempting to rid her self of that dream,. "No, no, no! Baka Kalaa! She isn't your mom! She betrayed you!"
"Hi!" A new voice said, nearly making her jump out of her skin. Kalaa turned around and, much to her surprise, saw a green-haired half-alien standing behind her, smiling. "I don't see many girls around here!" He smiled cheerfully. "I'm Kaiyo!"
"Kaiyo." Kalaa repeated, blinking, and then giving Kaiyo a harder look. He looks like...!
Kaiyo tipped his head to one side. "Hum? Why are you staring at me?" He smirked childishly. "Am I really that cute?"
Kalaa's head snapped back up, her cheeks burning red. "W-w-what? I-You-No-I don't-" She couldn't even think up a proper retort.
Kaiyo giggled. "I'm joking, cutie. What's your name?"
"K-Kalaa!" Kalaa stammered. No one had called her cute. Ever. Azzuen was the closest to her, and he hadn't called her anything flattering. And here was this boy she had never met before, calling her cute!
"Kalaa, huh? That's a pretty name. Where're you from?"
"Um..." Kalaa tried to think of something to say. Orphan? I live with my grandparents? "Um...I live with my dad...somewhere far, far away." She said distractedly.
"Oh...anyone here to pick you up?"
"Y-No, I came here by myself." Kalaa mumbled.
"Wanna stay for a little?" Kaiyo asked politely.
"Uhh...sure."
"Great! My room's this way." Kaiyo took her hand and lead her through the halls, down the stairs, and into a large room with deep green wallpaper. The room wasn't exceptionally tidy, with toys scattered everywhere, a half-completed 1000 piece puzzle on the desktop next to the window, and a huge unmade bed making up the contents.
"A puzzle?" Kalaa asked excitedly, running over to the desk and looking down at it. It was a puzzle of mythical creatures, like the unicorn, Pegasus, dragons, Cerberus, ogres, and everything in the middle.
"Yup." Kaiyo said, pulling another chair over to the desk. "I love puzzles. With only half a day of studying, I have a lot of time on my hands, and this is the sort of challenge I like." He nodded to an entire shelf full of puzzle boxes.
"Don't you go to school?" Kalaa asked, sitting down next to him and spreading out the remaining pieces.
"No." Kaiyo replied, his eyes growing misty. "In fact, I've spent most of my life in this hospital. Mom's only taken me outside on special occasions, like Easter or Thanksgiving."
Kalaa blinked. "Why?"
"I don't know." Kaiyo replied, searching for a piece and touching Kalaa's hand in the process. The girl pulled away instinctively, a blush appearing on her face. Kaiyo giggled and completed the Cerberus.
They work and worked and before Kalaa knew it, the moon was up and it was time to get some sleep.
"The moon looks lovely tonight." Kalaa remarked quietly, looking up at the gleaming silver disk.
"Yup, shiny and silver and serene, just like you." Kaiyo replied casually, giggling when Kalaa blushed again.
"H-hey!"
"Come on, we should get some rest." Kaiyo pulled her onto his bed. Viewing her red face, he giggled again. "Oh relax! There's enough room for both of us. Just don't hog the quilt!"
Kalaa blushed furiously at what Kaiyo was implying. "You-! That goes double for you!"Her friend laughed and lay down on his pillow.
Kalaa stayed up, playing with Kaiyo's long hair and trying to figure out who he reminded her of. She thought long and hard, and slowly her eyes strayed to a picture on the desk. Upon seeing it, she nearly had a heart attack. Looking down at Kaiyo again confirmed it. "Kaiyo...you're Mew Lettuce's son?"
Something inside Kalaa's head told her to get up and out, now, away from him. Mew Lettuce was one of her Master's opponents, and he was her son, which made them enemies. She shouldn't be here socializing with him! She should be off and running, to give her Master her report of progress.
But...
But Kalaa didn't want to leave. Kaiyo made her feel warm and special, like Kish-kun and Uncle Tart. She nested into bed, still staring at Kaiyo's face.
"He sure is cute..." She murmured, almost sub-consciously, before drifting off into dreamland.
End Chapter
Author's Note: FLIRTING! It's so adorable! It's decided, KalaaxKaiyo is going to be one of the pairings in this fic!