Hellooo my dear lovely ones! Okay, okay, I know: It's been a ridiculously long time since I've uploaded. Feel free to bombard me with tomatoes. I'm sorry! I don't really have any excuses. :) But I really tried to put a lot of effort into this chapter to make it up to you guys, so I hope you like it!

By the way, I'm hoping to finish this story up in several chapters. I don't want my story to drag on forever, and I am working hard to prevent that! :D

Chapter 13: Reunited (AND IT FEELS...SO GOOD...:D)

Kisshu stepped of off the ramp way of the space ship, planting his feet on Earth's solid ground. He stretched his shoulders back and breathed deeply: it had been a while.

Around him, Pai and Taruto stepped out and stretched, and Arigo, Marzac, and Brittlee followed them, staring around themselves in awe.

After a moment, Kisshu turned back to the space ship's doorway, realizing Searadesi was still standing on the ramp. She stared out at them all, biting her lip and hesitating.

He smiled at he and held out his hand. "Come on. It's okay, I promise."

She looked at him for a moment and then, taking a big breath, put her hand in his and stepped out into the sun.

Kisshu watched Searadesi's reaction as she looked around, the sun, so much closer to this planet than to theirs, lighting up her skin. It was late afternoon. The wind gusted her amethyst hair around her face as she looked at the silhouettes of skyscrapers visible in the distance over the tops of enormous trees. They heard, very faintly, the hum of engines from a nearby highway. Here, concealed in this small field surrounded by trees, they could see and hear many aspects of human life, but they were not visible.

Searadesi inhaled a gulp of the fresh, springy air. "The air…" She paused, searching for words. "It feels…different here."

"That's because of the atmosphere," Pai explained. "It's heavier than on our planet. It's slightly more difficult to fly and teleport because of this."

Pai began to launch into a detailed explanation of Earth's atmosphere, and Kisshu tuned him out, focusing instead on Tokyo's skyline. He could barely see the peak of what might have been Tokyo Tower.

The Mews were there.

Taruto, standing next to him, was looking in the same direction, a mixture of anxiety and anticipation in his amber eyes. Absently fingering his click-clacks, he murmured, "Kisshu, I'm nervous."

Shaking off his own doubts, Kisshu grinned and playfully knocked Taruto's side. "Hey, it'll be fine. I'm sure that monkey kid will be glad to see you."

Taruto's ears turned crimson. He opened his mouth to throw back a retort, but Pai cut him off.

"Alright, let's head to the Café."

Searadesi looked at Kisshu. "Café?"

"It's a place to eat food. The Mew Mews use it as their headquarters," Kisshu explained. Kisshu, Pai, and Taruto had already spent a good portion of the trip here explaining the Mews and their powers.

Kisshu, Taruto, and Pai all grabbed onto the four that had never been to the Café before and teleported to the area in front of the Café. Kisshu quickly let go of Searadesi's hand. His eyes went to the familiar cutesy building.

"Awww, it's so cute!" Brittlee gushed. Expert flier or not, that one still seemed to have a girly streak.

"I bet they make good food…" mused Arigo.

Kisshu stared at the pink building covered in hearts. Though it had only been a few months, it felt like years since he'd last seen it.

Suddenly, the door slid open. A demanding voice floated out of it. "Someone tell Shirogane to take out the trash!"

An equally irritated voice yelled back, "That's your job, Mint!"

Kisshu suppressed a grin, though his heart was pounding in his chest. The Mews must have been closing shop for the day.

The door opened fully to reveal Lettuce, the kindest Mew. Her forest green hair was tied back in it's usual braids, and she was wearing the traditional maid uniform of the Mews. In her hand was a garbage bag, and she was leaning back into the open doorway to call in her gentle voice, "It's alright, I've got it!"

Kisshu said under his breath to the group of newbie aliens. "That's Lettuce, the porpoise Mew." As he did so, he noticed that Pai seemed to be doing an awful lot of uncomfortable shifting. Hm…

Lettuce faced forwards, and her eyes fell upon the group of aliens floating a few yards from her. Her eyes widened within the frame of her glasses, and the garbage bag fell from her hand. A breathless squeak issued from her mouth. "Pai…Kisshu…Taruto…kun?"

Kisshu looked at his group. Pai seemed to have frozen up, and Taruto looked too nervous to say anything. Kisshu had never been uncomfortable around the sweet Green Mew, so he smiled at her, fang poking out, and said, "Hey, Lettuce-chan. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

She could only stare at him.

Mint peeked her indigo head out the door. "Hey, Lettuce, what's taking so lo…?" Her question trailed off. "K-ki-kisshu?" she sputtered.

"Hey, Mint." His smile widened, whilst his pulse was throbbing in his ears. Two Mews down, three to go. Eventually he would have to face her.

"Onee-chans, why are we all gathering outside? Did someone say Kisshu?" The Monkey Mew's hyper little body cart wheeled out the door. She landed in a perfectly balanced handstand, looking at Lettuce and Mint expectantly. Then she saw the returned aliens.

Her rascally face positively lit up with excitement. Flipping onto her feet, she squealed, "TARU-TARU! You're back!"

Before anyone could move a muscle, Pudding had launched herself at Taruto and wrapped her tiny arms around him in a fierce hug. Taruto's face flamed bright red, especially when Kisshu accidentally let a snicker escape. Taruto stuttered, "Hey-don't-I-STOP CALLING ME THAT!" He flailed, trying to disengage himself from her grip, but Pudding ignored him, a satisfied smile on her face. Kisshu knew Taruto well enough to see that he was actually rather pleased.

"You're going to strangle him, Pudding," Zakuro said, leaning against the doorway and watching the scene, stoic as always, but with her lips curved in a small smile. Akasaka and Ryou appeared behind her.

Akasaka gasped. "Aliens?"

That was everyone. So where was Ichigo? A small amount of tension leaked out of Kisshu, so he said, "Hey, Mews!"

Lettuce broke into a smile, and even Mint looked a little bit happy. Pudding, finally letting go of Taruto, exclaimed. "Alien oni-chans are back!"

Ryou, relaxing, walked forward to shake the Pai's hand, and the tension broke. Suddenly, the aliens and the Mews were shaking hands, smiling, and even hugging each other.

But where was Ichigo?

Ryou, his face settling into more serious lines, said, "But why are you all here? And who are these people?" He gestured at Searadesi, Arigo, Brittlee, and Marzac.

Pai glanced at Kisshu and Searadesi. "It's a very serious matter, unfortunately. But everyone needs to be here for the explanation of it."

"Yeah, where's the old lady?" Taruto asked. Kisshu was glad he hadn't been the one to ask it.

"Today's her day off," Mint said.

Pudding piped up, "Ichigo onee-chan said she had a date with Aoyama oni-chan toni-"Mint covered Pudding's mouth, while all the Mews looked at Kisshu apprehensively.

Kisshu sighed inwardly. So Aoyama was still around. He'd expected that, and it was neither as surprising nor as painful a fact as it once would have been.

Beside him, very discreetly, Searadesi's hand slipped into his and squeezed reassuringly.

Everyone was still watching him, so Kisshu brushed off his confused emotions and grinned cockily. "So she's at home now? Alright, then, I'll go get her." And before anyone could stop him, Kisshu teleported away. Ichigo's date was just going to have to wait.

Kisshu teleported to the street outside of Ichigo's cute little house. Though it shamed him to think of it now, he had come here on several occasions to watch her. He'd see her simply go about her business: do homework, talk on the phone, clean, etc.

Someone else could have gone to get Ichigo. But honestly, he just wanted to get this first moment over with. He didn't know how Ichigo would react to seeing him. He didn't even know how HE'D react. How did he even feel about her anymore?

That was why he was here. To see if he could get any small part of this whole mess cleared up.

He floated up to the big oak tree outside her window and cautiously looked into her bedroom window. His breath caught in his chest, and for a moment, he could have sworn his heart stopped.

There she was.

Ichigo.

She was standing in front of her mirror, and as he watched, she lifted her hand to smooth a stray piece of hair. She was as cute as ever. Her deep red hair had grown out, and it spilled loose and free over the tops of her shoulders, the ends curling. She was…vibrant. She was humming a cheerful tune, and kept glancing over at the cell phone sitting on her desk with a small smile on her face. Her brown eyes were content and happy.

Kisshu held his breath, and then released it. Seeing her….didn't hurt. He'd thought it would. Seeing her again felt…nice. Not…'overjoyed' nice. Not 'seeing the girl you loved' nice. Simply…'seeing a good friend again' nice. Before he had time to gather and sort out his thoughts anymore, Masha gave him away. The tiny pink fuzz ball rose from its perch on Ichigo's desk and chanted, "Alien! Alien!"

Ichigo laughed. Kisshu could hear her voice, muted, through the window. "Masha, what are you talking about? The aliens are gone." She turned to look at Masha and her eyes were drawn to Kisshu, sitting lightly on the outside sill of her closed window. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open slightly.

Kisshu sighed. No use hiding now. He teleported inside her room, so that he was leaning back against the window. She was still staring at him, amazed and frozen. Her hand, which had still been touching her hair, slowly lowered to her side.

Kisshu smiled at her. "Hey, koneko-chan."

She spoke softly, her chocolate eyes still shocked. "K…Kisshu?"

Cliffhanger! I know, really evil of me. Forgive me! I simply can't write any more tonight! I promise I will try VERY hard to get the next chappie up soon!

Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews and feedback. It means so much to me! By the way, don't be afraid to give me critique or advice on my writing. It won't hurt my feelings at all, but rather motivate me to do better! I want to improve my writing and become the best that I can be! So please feel free to offer any thoughts you might have :)