DISCLAIMER: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew. Well what do you know.

Summary: Things don't go as planned in the Final Battle, so Deep Blue, as Masaya, sends Ichigo to a place he thinks she will be happy. When Ichigo wakes up, she finds everyone is alive, she's not a Mew Mew, and her boyfriend is...Ryou Shirogane! Will Ichigo find her way back home, and does she even want to?

Pairings: IchigoRyou.

A/N: Gah – I'm SO SORRY. But my spark has been rekindled, and I'm GOING TO FINISH THIS STORY. Expect a faster update. Maybe even faster than Valediction's epilogue. The biggest thank-you ever to all my readers, especially my reviewers. If I hadn't read those reviews, I never would've picked this back up. THANK YOU!

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A LIFE OF CONTENTMENT
The Art of Making a Decision

- - -

"Ichigo?" he gently grabbed my shoulders, "Is it because I asked you to marry me? I'm sorry if that upset you, if you really didn't mean yes; because ever since then you've seemed so withdrawn and I…I can't stand to see you like this."

He looked broken, and I smiled; not atthat fact, but because he cared about me so much…

I slowly pulled Ryou into a hug, and felt him relax. I'm not exactly sure what my reasoning behind the action was, but it just felt like the right thing to do.

The cool, oceanic breeze seemed to fit the moment.

.-xxx-.

I stared up at the ceiling from my bed in deep thought. Not my ideal way to spend time, but it was necessary.

Because, for some strange and unexplainable reason, I could not stop myself from falling for Ryou.

I rolled to my side and closed my eyes. This wasn't right. I had been telling myself this all along; I must be really dense not to have let it soak in. I thought I had loved Masaya. I did love Masaya. And, for some reason, some wicked twist of fate, I could not be with him. Admitting this hurt.

Masaya told me that he wanted me to be happy. But how could I when I was desperately trying to cling to him, but also trying to pick up the pieces of my life at the same time? I couldn't pick both. And I felt guilty because of the option I was leaning towards.

But Masaya was kind and loving. Would he want me still pining after him when he was gone? Even when this wasn't about what I wanted, what about him?

Would Masaya be okay with me getting married to Ryou Shirogane?

I put a hand to my forehead. I thought long and hard about the answer.

I remembered my old life. I thought about the real cruise. I thought about how Ryou had selflessly tested the Mew project on himself. I thought about his smile when I gave him rice balls. I thought about how he teased me, how he was always rude, and how he constantly bossed me around. I thought about all the times I had come so close to touching Ryou's lips with my own.

The answer was yes.

.-xxx-.

I couldn't help it. I broke down. I hadn't realized I had been crying until I tried to brush away a strand of hair and my fingers returned wet with tears. I didn't even realize I had rushed out the door to my room and collided with a worried Ryou Shirogane.

"Ichigo, are you...crying?"

I stared at his face. It was just like I had remembered. This Shirogane was not different than my Shirogane. I reached up to touch his face, just to see if he was real; Ryou, the man I had never truly realized I had feelings for. Confusion marred his features. I was going crazy. I didn't care.

I just leaned up and kissed him.

And I'm proud to say I didn't pause like he used to.

This Ryou, this which was the same asmine, seemed surprised but not uncomfortable. He was used to this, most likely. Surely he already kissed this Ichigo before.

But for me it was new. It wasn't like kissing Masaya, a simple but caring gesture. Ryou wasn't like Masaya. Masaya had always been my protector, my safe refuge. But the feeling I felt for Ryou was almost a different kind of love. It was one that didn't make sense, it couldn't be explained, and I had no logical explanation for why I felt it.

But it was real. I hadn't been too sure about anything for the past few days, but this was an exception.

I stopped and looked into his eyes. He placed his hands on my shoulders, trying to understand what was wrong, why I had been acting so weird. Poor guy. I had utterly confused him, which wasn't surprising. My behavior as of late was rather erratic.

I rested my head on his chest. "Please," I muttered, "Let me stay like this. Just for a little while." I closed my eyes. I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing, but I was no longer afraid of what Masaya would think of me. I knew he would understand.

Which is when I made my decision.

.-xxx-.

Trying to make yourself fall asleep is difficult. The more you try, the more awake you seem to feel. And counting sheep (or Kirema Animas) just doesn't work. It was frustrating.

It was the reason that I didn't fall asleep until around 3:00 in the morning.

The setting of my dream was the same as usual, but I wasn't greeted like normal. I would have to do the talking.

"Hey, Masaya."

Silence.

"I...I loved you, Masaya. I still do. But I know that you want me to move on. It hurts to leave you behind. But I want to thank you. For all you've sacrificed, just for my sake." I paused, trying to gather my wits through blurry-eyes. "But I think I know why you sent me here. You wanted me to have an alternate, normal life. You wanted me to realize that...I needed to move on." I had said it to myself, but saying it out loud stung more. My whole being felt torn.

"...Yes," was all he said. It was enough.

Which brought me to the real reason I had struggled with sleeping.

"Which is why I want to leave."

That seemed to take him by surprise. The silence that followed that statement was entirely different from that which proceeded it.

"I realize this will be the only real chance at a normal, safe life I'm going to get. But I want to be back. If my Ryou and my old world is somehow still alive, just on the brink of existence, I want to be there. I don't think I belong here."

A pause. "You are sure?"

"Yes."

I heard a sigh. "I can't do that, Ichigo."

...What? He had done it before, hadn't he? Why did it seem that whenever I decided what I wanted it was taken away? How foolish it was of me to assume I could travel between worlds at my leisure!

"I used the power of Deep Blue to bring you here. Without his power, I'm just the Blue Knight, and useless."

My voice broke. "Is there...any way? Any way at all?"

There was silence for an unbearable amount of time. And I didn't get the answer I wanted; actually, I didn't get much of an answer at all.

"Why do you want to leave?"

I thought about that. Why did I want to leave? Well, actually, I had perfectly good reason...

"Because the memories I share with those back in my world are precious. I don't want to lose them – the longer I stay here the more I find myself forgetting. What if I forget how I used to know all my friends? What if I forget about being a Mew Mew? What if I forget about how the Ryou I knew used to act? What if I forget about you?!" Tears were pouring freely now. There was nothing wrong with this world, but I just couldn't give up my own.

"And, Masaya...what about the Ichigo that belongs here? Where is she? I can't just take away her life for my own chance at a fake kind of happiness."

He seemed reluctant to speak. "I would assume her mind is held at a subconscious state or something of the like. She...I suppose that she wouldn't exactly know what she's missing..." I grimaced at that and clearly he didn't like admitting it either. By being here I was stealing another's – well, my – life.

"Ichigo, I'm sorry, I just...I couldn't bear to let you die. Not by me."

"Masaya, I don't blame you. I can't thank you enough for saving me. But somehow we have to fix this."

There was a period of prolonged silence in which we both must've been trying to find some kind of answer. Suddenly, it was broken.

"Mew Aqua."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I drew power from Deep Blue, I thought, but maybe it was actually the Mew Aqua inside of him. Maybe, if we could just find it here I could try to utilize it..."

"Yes! Masaya, this could work!" Once I was over the fact that I might get home, though, I realized just how problematic this solution would be.

"Masaya, I'm on a cruise. As in the middle of the ocean, headed for America. I only know where the Mew Aqua is in Japan. And," suddenly my breath caught, "I'm...I'm not a Mew Mew anymore, Masaya! I can't sense them! I can't even use them! I..." I was at a loss for words, my hope suddenly crushed.

"Then become one."

...Well. That was certainly easier said than done. But I could feel the pull of conscious and couldn't seem to stop it. My vision in my dream world was starting to fade. All I could whisper to my savior was, "Easier said than done."

.-xxx-.

Fancy dinners are great. People say that conversations tend to come more easily with music and food.

Well, neither was really helping me.

"Ichigo, you seem...quiet." Ryou spoke very carefully, which I couldn't blame him for. I had literally led him through an emotional roller coaster.

"Sorry, Ryou, just listening to the music. Isn't this Debussy?" I questioned with a smile on my face. I owed the guy something, at least. Especially for what I was about to do to him. If there was a sport involving Ryou-torture I would be a star. "Ryou..." I started, absentmindedly swirling my fork in my food and trying to be as casual as possible, "Have you ever heard of something called a...Kirema Anima?"

He choked on his drink. Oops.

He tried to play it off but it was hard since he was coughing so much. "Where did you hear that?"

Exactly the question I didn't want to answer. What was with everyone answering me with questions? I was tired of it. "You're not answering me," I half-teased.

He must've thought I knew nothing. Good for the initial shock, but not much help later on. Oh well, I'd take what I could get. "It's just something my father researched a while back. Kind of a crazy idea, actually." He chucked nervously. It was wrong. Ryou was not supposed to chuckle nervously. It didn't fit him.

"Did he ever find a way to fight the infection?"

He looked at me a mix of confusion and shock.

"Please, just answer me." I even tried to utilize what feminine charm I possibly had. So sue me – this was important!

He seemed reluctant to answer. "I...well, he didn't really." My face fell. Ryou noticed.

"But...but I did always have this theory about endangered species..." he continued hesitantly. Yes! Go Ryou, super genius! Just go a little further with this...

He noticed my curiosity, got instantly more suspicious, and continued, "I thought about injecting the infected animals with that DNA but I couldn't get them to be compatible...so I thought about...humans..." he instantly halted discussion on the topic. "But that doesn't matter. Kirema Animas don't exist, and even if they did, they're not here now." He put a hand to his forehead. "I don't even want to know how you know what we called our...fantasies." He sighed.

Well, that wasn't good. I'd have to get him to accept this – and more – as fact. Obviously, from his theory he had believed they existed at some point. So I just had to -

"Why do you want to know?"

Oh, poop. Well, if he wanted the answer straight up, that's what he'd get.

"I want you to inject that DNA into me."