Blue Planet Chapter 7: Arrival at Last

"Thank you for coming to Cafe Mew Mew, I hope you'll come again." Mint called from the front door as the day's last customer left, and the large entryway was shut. Lettuce sighed from her position at the mop.

"Wow, I can't believe it all ended so quickly. It was their job, their mission, and they just threw it all away. It's a good thing, I suppose, because we'd still be fighting them if they hadn't, but still...it doesn't feel right." Anyone caring to watch would see that the green-haired mew wasn't really looking at her mop, or even the floor beneath her as she continued to polish the same spot of the floor over and over again, creating a circle of dirt around it.

"Yes, it is for the best. At least, OUR best, that is." Added Zakuro as she closed the cash register up, having just ensured that all the profits were accounted for and safe. She shut the drawer with a swift motion of her hand, causing a bell hidden somewhere inside the machine to chime loudly. Her hand remained beside the register, unmoving as Zakuro was, whose normally alert purple eyes were clouded as she thought. But the moment was just that, a moment, and her vision cleared once again as she returned to reality and turned to walk away from her accustomed place.

"I miss Tart." Pudding sniffed, thinking sadly of how she had never had the chance to really get to know the little alien.

"But Pudding, it's only been two weeks!" Mint retorted pointedly.

"I'm tired." Ichigo added in a monotone. She truly had not been herself of late, her words unemotional and carrying no more depth then this paltry statement.

"Well, you picked a good time, because the cafe just closed." Zakuro answered with a hint of compassion in her voice, all though no more then the tiniest sliver. Even she could not help but empathise with the girl now; once their leader with boundless energy and a never-failing ability to be late for everything, and now reduced to a mere shadow of her old self. Ever since...ever since...

For a brief moment, no one spoke and everyone paused. It was as though time itself was paused.

"ICHIGO!" The silence broke with a long yell from none other than...Kish!

"Alright girls, let's go! Ready? Mew Mew Strawerry...?"

But the other four girls were way ahead of her, already in mew form and poised for attack. that was when Ichigo realized that she had no cat ears protruding from her head. "Oh yeah, I can't do that anymore." She said to herself, the brief candle that had lit within her at the appearance of their old enemies fading fast and extinguishing to leave her zombie-like once again.

Zakuro was just beginning to say "Ribbon..." when Tart, who was clearly panicking, cut her off.

"WAIT! Stop! You've got us all wrong! Don't attack us! Don't hurt us! It's not our fault! Pai, Kish, back me up here, will you!"

But Kish was busy, floating in enthusiastic circles around Ichigo. "Hi Ichigo! Did you miss me, 'cause I sure missed you! I was thinking of sending you a letter, but airmail doesn't work between planets. Oh, and did you know-"

"Go away, Kish." Ichigo groaned. The alien paused in front of her, then floated over to join Pie and Tart, his moment of happiness gone.

"Well, if you really have changed your ways, then why did you come back? Surely not to visit?" Mint interrogated.

Pai shook his head. "We came to warn you. Our king was dissapointed with our 'failure' to seize your planet, and now he is sending almost everyone from our planet to come and fight to take Earth." This was followed by a moment of horrified shock from all the mews as the terrible news began to sink in, but was broken by the sound of them muttering to each other.

Breaking through the noise, Ryou, who had come in with Keiichero during Tart's panic session, spoke. "Why should we believe you?"

Pudding bounced over to the aliens. "Do you have any proof, na no da?" She asked suspiciously.

"Well..." Tart moaned. The aliens looked at each other nervously. Kish motioned for a huddle, and the aliens began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Proof?" Tart asked.

"Well...we have her..." Kish mentioned.

"HER!" Tart exploded, and the startled Mew Mews looked at one another.

"We can't use her! Are you crazy? Besides, how is she proof anyway?"

"She's the only thing we've got other than the ship, and that isn't real proof either." Kish responded. Sighing, the threesome turned back to the impatient interrogaters.

"We have nothing but our word, so take it or leave it!" Tart exclaimed haughtily. "But really, why would we come all this way to warn you or a danger that doesn't exist?" He continued.

"I don't know, na no da..." Pudding broke in, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Why don't you tell me?"

"We can't tell you because we didn't do it!" Yelled tart in response, but Kish clapped a hand over his mouth to muffle his indignant mutterings.

"I suppose you'll just have to trust us." Kish concluded, and the aliens waited for the Mew Mews' ruling.

"Well, trusting them seems a bit foolish, but I can't think of any reason they would lie about something like that." Ryou stated, and the others nodded in agreement. Tart nodded enthusiastically as well.

"How many of you are coming?" Zakuro asked, clearly believing them.

"Around five-hundred. The king pulled everyone away to fight in this war. there is nothing he won't do to take over this planet." :ie responded, straight-forward, and some of the Mews nearly gasped.

"We had such a hard time with the three of you...how can we possibly hope to defend against five-hundred?" Lettuce groaned in depair. Mint was shocked.

"Five...hundred?" She repeated quietly, her eyes wide with disbelief and her hands quivering. One by one, everyone turned to look at Ichigo, awaiting her response as the once had. She bit her lip, struggling to find something to say. Suddenly turning from them, she spoke. "What is everyone looing at me for? I'm useless now, remember?" Now it was Kish's turn to be suprised, and a perplexed look came over his features. What could have happened to happy-go-lucky Ichigo to bring about such a change in her?

"If what they say is true, and for now we have no choice but to believe it is, then we'll have to do something about that. And I think I can..." Ryou began, a slow smile edging onto his face at the prospect of a challenge. The peace times following the aliens' departure had been unbarably boring for the genius. The aliens sighed unanimously, relieved.

"Well then, we'll be returning to our ship for now. It'll be nice to finally get some rest!" Kish stated, and they began to rise to teleport away.

"Oh! Here, give us a call if you need us. We'll definately be stopping by some more anyway, though." Tart said as a flash of realization crossed him, and he handed Pudding a small radio-like device.

"Bye, Ichigo!" Kish called in a sing-song voice as the air around them wavered, and the aliens were gone.

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To the reviewers:

Haven't done many of these, have I? Glad everyone seems to like Lemana, I know I sure do! Thought that would make an interesting twist. I'm doing my best to keep OCs to a minimum, although I can't help but add in a few here and there. xP

Snowbluerat: Oh, don't worry about it! I don't mind criticism, so long as it's constructive. Yours was well-placed. Anyway, I'm verypleased you think so! I try to be original (well, the basis may not be original but most of the content is!). It makes me happy to know people like it.

Saingirl101: Thanks! Your the second person to ask about this, lol! See Chapter 4.