As the light shined in through the second story windows, Claire pulled the blankets back and sighed. She sat up and looked around her room. As she glanced around, she noticed the calendar with this day circled.
"I can't avoid it forever. Today is my annual call to Mama and Papa." Claire said as she stood and walked over to the desk. She lifted a cloth off of a picture frame. In it was a picture of a younger Claire, another girl who resembled Claire, and two adults. A tear fell down her face as she stared at the picture.
[OP-Futari wa Tomodachi! Futari wa Purikyua!]
Anika hummed as she shoved a pile of clothes under her bed and walked out of her room with Cira in her arms. She waved to Alice, who sat at the table, and reached for the doorknob.
"Wait a second Anika. Are you going to ask Claire about her and her parents coming over?" Alice asked as she looked at Anika over her glasses.
"I sure am. I know she'll say yes. She loves stuff like this!" Anika laughed as she left and jogged down the stairs. She jumped over the railing and ran right into Tsuyoi.
"Hey Hibani. You live here?" He asked as Anika apologized.
"Yeah. What are you doing around here?" Anika said sheepishly. She looked at her shoes as he smiled.
"Taking Shelby and her poodle Maleficent for a walk." Tsuyoi shrugged, and Anika looked up to see Shelby and a very snarly dog.
"Hi Shelby. Uh, nice looking dog you have there." Anika said as Maleficent growled at her.
"Yeah, hello Hibani-chisai." Shelby muttered, obviously irritated.
"Where you headed to? We could walk you there." Tsuyoi asked as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"I was going over to Claire's place. I got something to ask her." Anika said.
"Mizutama's? Cool. Come on Shelby, we're going too." Tsuyoi said as he took his sister's hand and tugged on the dog's leash. He handed the leash to Shelby and took Anika's hand. Her face went red, and she turned her head away as they walked down the sidewalk.
"This is Mizutama's place? This is an art store." Tsuyoi said as he took in From the Heart.
"Yeah. Owned and operated by Luna Mizutama herself." Anika laughed as she noticed Luna sitting with her head in her hands inside.
"Hold on Mamoru-sempai. I got to see what's wrong with Luna." Anika said as she opened the door to the store.
"Anika? Is that you?" Luna asked as she raised her head. Her eyes were red.
"Luna… have you been crying? Did something happen?" Anika asked as she bent down and looked over Luna's face.
"Dear Anika. Nothing that major has happened. Yet. Why don't you go and try to cheer Claire up. She seemed to be… in a bad mood this morning." Luna said as she herded Anika up the stairs. As she walked up, she heard Claire's angry crying.
"They don't care about me!" Claire yelled as she took her picture frame and dropped it out the window.
"Claire! What's the matter?" Anika asked as she rushed into Claire's room.
"Anika! What're you doing here?" Claire demanded as she spun around.
"I came to ask you something… Are you ok? If you're angry, you can talk to me." Anika offered as she walked over and went to pat Claire's shoulder. Claire slapped her hand away.
"You wouldn't understand. Nobody does. Not even those idiots I call Mama and Papa! Especially not them!" Claire sobbed as she ran out of her room and down the stairs.
"That's so unlike Claire. I better ask Luna what's wrong." Anika said as she watched Claire run out of the store.
"Luna? Where'd you go?" Anika asked as she looked around the dark store.
"I'm right here Anika." Luna's voice said from behind an easel. She raised her head, and was crying again.
"What's wrong with Claire? Why is she acting like that?" Anika asked. She sat on the stool next to Luna.
"She doesn't like people knowing about what my sister and brother-in-law did, but maybe you can help calm her down." Luna said as she wiped her eyes with her turtleneck's sleeve.
"You mean her parents?" Anika asked. Luna nodded.
"See this? This is me, Claire's mother Rita, our husbands, the Mizutama brothers, Claire and her sister Michelle." Luna said as she held a picture up.
"Wow. You and Claire's mom, two sisters, married two brothers?" Anika joked, but Luna didn't smile.
"Well, yes. See, a long time ago, when Michelle was 5 and Claire was an infant, Haruka, Claire's father, and Kaname, my husband, went over seas for the second time. Keep in mind everything was fine then. When they came back here to us, Rita and I found out they had cheated on us. I left Kaname, but Rita stayed with Haruka faithfully and they moved to Montreal, where I and Rita are from. That's when we were tore apart, and both Claire and Michelle took my side. They hated their father, and he and Rita sent them away. First, they sent Michelle to a finishing school in Europe. Then, they flew over with Claire. They dropped her off here, saying they'd be back in an hour. After hours, they didn't come. I called the police, and eventually found out that the two of them had taken a plane back to Quebec. They abandoned Claire and left her here with me. She never forgave them, but she does speak to them once a year." Luna explained. Anika nodded.
"And today is that day." Anika stated.
"Yes. She always remembers the way she felt when she heard that they left her. She never forgot that, and she holds it against them." Luna said.
"I see. That must be why she dropped that picture out the window." Anika said thoughtfully.
"Picture! She couldn't have!" Luna gasped. She jumped up and almost ran through the store.
"Oh no. She dropped her family picture. She broke it." Luna said as she picked up a piece of glass.
"Hibani! What's wrong with Mizutama? She ran past without even a hello." Tsuyoi asked as Luna picked up the shattered glass.
"Did you see where she went?" Anika asked urgently.
"She just ran down the street until I couldn't see her anymore." Tsuyoi shrugged.
"Not good. Where could she have run off to?" Anika shook her head.
"Anika!" Cira's faint voice rang out as she ran towards the store.
"Huh?" Anika said as she spun around and noticed Cira. She ran forward and picked her up.
"What's going on Hibani?" Tsuyoi asked.
"Just a cat." Anika said quickly.
"Dark Reign incoming! Double alert!" Cira cried. She hid her face in fear.
"Uh oh. Claire isn't here. I can't transform. Find Ciro. He followed Claire." Anika commanded. Cira nodded and dashed down the street.
"Ah. Humans. Perfect for terrorizing." A man chuckled. He and a woman stood in front of the four. Shelby hid her face in Tsuyoi. He picked her up and ran inside the store, with Maleficent following.
The man raised his arm and a blast of black shot out of his hand at Luna. It threw her back against the wall of the store, and sent the glass and picture pieces. The woman fluttered forward and snapped her fingers at the picture of Claire and her family.
"Meiwaki!" She giggled.
"It's Meiwaku you idiot!" The man yelled. The woman just giggled as the picture became a monster.
"Whatever Kori. It's still big and mean." She said.
"No matter what it is, you are still the stupidest servant of the Prince!" Kori muttered.
"You are the dummy Kori." Jakia said. She frowned at Kori, and then looked at Anika. She glared at Jakia and Kori.
"Hey dummy, one more to get rid of." Jakia said as she elbowed Kori. His face turned red with rage.
"Fine!" Kori said as he slammed his fist into the ground. A ripple went across the pavement to Anika, who jumped across it and ran for the two. She dove, feet out, for Jakia, and knocked her over. She whined and complained about her nails and hair being messy.
"Stupid human!" Kori grumbled as he charged Anika. She smiled and jumped off of and over his back as he came close.
"Success!" She cried as she flew through the air.
"Not hardly." Jakia and Kori said as they both shot straight at Anika.
Through the smoke of the explosion, she dropped to the ground. Claire ran up and waved away the smoke.
"Anika! Aunt Luna!" She gasped as she ran forward. When she spotted the Meiwaku she froze.
"My picture… My picture… My picture… MY PICTURE!" Claire went from a whisper to screaming. She ran towards Anika, diving under the Meiwaku. Light shined from their Heart Charms, and they were enveloped in it.
"Pretty Cure Miracle Eclipse!"
"The flaming heart of the sun, Cure Blaze!" said Anika.
"The shining heart of the moon, Cure Star!" said Claire.
"Together we are Pretty Cure!" they both said.
"With the power of light," said Cure Blaze.
"And the shine of our hearts," said Cure Star.
"We will restore the power of hope!" they both finished.
"Are you ok Star?" Cure Blaze asked.
"Yeah. Let's get back my pa- my picture." Cure Star grumbled. She ran towards the Meiwaku and flipped into the air, foot out, ready to kick.
As she got closer, the image flickered. In her eyes, the Meiwaku wasn't a Meiwaku. It was her parents, and her sister, smiling down at her. As the Meiwaku smacked her to the ground, she stared at it in horror.
"Star!" Cure Blaze said as she ran to her partner, who lay crumpled in the pavement.
"What are you doing?" She asked as she offered her hand.
"Mama…. Papa… Grand soeur… I can't hurt them… I can't." Cure Star said as she got to her feet.
"No wonder. If we purify the picture Star, it won't be, um, hurting them. It'll be helping. So come on. Try Heart Moonlight, I'll do Heart Sunshine, that don't work, we do the Heart Eclipse. Ok?" Cure Blaze said.
"Fine. But… but I…" Cure Star whispered as the image of her family kept changing in the Meiwaku in her eyes.
"If you're not sure, I'll try first. Knock it off its feet. You hold it down, and then we purify it. Save your picture, and then you can talk to your parents." Cure Blaze suggested. She ran forward.
"Aunt Luna… She has such a big mouth." Cure Star laughed as she glanced at the store doors.
"Power of the sun! Heart of Flame! Heart Sunshine!" Cure Blaze yelled as the heart of flame flew from her hands and slammed into the Meiwaku. It crashed and shook the ground.
"M-My turn." Cure Star said as she walked forward.
"Jeez. Just watching these two is BO-RING. Can't they get beaten up? That would be more fun. And why did we steal that stupid picture? Happy families are stupider than Kori." Jakia whined.
"Happy families aren't stupid!" Cure Star yelled at Jakia. She made a heart with her hands and aimed at Jakia.
"Power of the moon! Heart of Shine! Heart Moonlight!" Cure Star yelled as the heart of quintessence flew from her hands and straight toward Jakia. Kori reached out and tried to swat the attack away, but he missed, and it electrocuted Jakia's hair.
"Wah! My hair! You little brat!" Jakia cried as she felt her hair and looked in her mirror.
Cure Star looked over to see Cure Blaze on the ground, laughing non stop.
"She's funnier than Mira on her bad hair days!" Cure Blaze said as she stood up and continued laughing at Jakia.
"Let's do this before they start again." Cure Star said. Cure Blaze wiped her eyes and nodded.
"Heart of the Sun, Flame!" said Cure Blaze as she drew half a heart with her free hand.
"Heart of the Moon, Shine!" said Cure Star as she drew the other half of the heart with her free hand.
"The heart of the sun," said Cure Blaze.
"And the heart of the moon," said Cure Star.
"Will eclipse the darkness!" they both said, freeing their hands, and pulling those arms back.
"Pretty Cure Heart Eclipse!" they yelled, pushing their arms out toward the heart.
The heart exploded and wrapped around the Meiwaku. It struggled against the light, but it only got tighter. As it covered the Meiwaku completely, Jakia whined and Kori snarled. They disappeared and the Meiwaku disintegrated. As the light faded, Anika and Claire untransformed and ran towards the picture that lied broken in the street.
"I'm so stupid! How could I break my only picture of Mama, Papa and grand soeur?" Claire cried as she picked up the pieces of the glass.
"Claire! Are you okay?" Luna called out as she ran out to Claire and bent down next to her.
"Here let me help you. Apres sa, vous parle avec petite soeur et sa marie. Et ta grand soeur." Luna said as she swept the glass in a dust pan. She emptied it into a bag and handed Claire the photo.
"We can buy a new frame for this ma belle. C'est facile." Luna said as she led Claire inside the store.
"I'm glad Mizutama's okay. You're a great friend Hibani." Tsuyoi said as he put his arm around Anika's shoulders and both her face and Shelby's face went red.
"See you later H- Anika." Tsuyoi winked as he took Shelby's hand and walked off down the street.
"I swear Anika. If you were any redder, I'd eat you." Cira said as she and Ciro watched Anika from Claire's arms.
"It's okay, I didn't see anything." Claire giggled as she walked over to Anika.
"You okay Claire? I mean, not seeing your family for a long time must be hard, but-" Anika started.
"I realized that I don't need to be with my parents or sister to be with family. I have family here." Claire interrupted.
"Huh?" Anika said.
"I have Aunt Luna, you, Ciro, plenty of family. Montreal is nice, but I feel more at home here." Claire smiled.
"Claire! Ta mere est sur le telephone!" Luna's voice called out from the store. Claire eyes lit up and she ran inside. As she ran, she turned back and waved to Anika.
"Bye! I got people to talk to!" Claire called out.
"Bye Claire!" Anika called back. She looked down at Cira in her arms. "Why did you say that before? About eating me?" She asked as she started walking down the street.
"I said that because you were looking like a tomato. And I love to eat tomato slices with sugar on top." Cira said. Anika screwed up her face.
"Sugar? Blech. That sounds gross." Anika said as she held out Cira and looked at her.
"It's good! You should try it sometime. If you don't, when you get it for me, you'll look foolish. As if you need to add to that." Cira laughed.
"What is that supposed to mean? And what makes you think I'm playing butler for you?" Anika yelled.
[ED – Zutto, Zutto Nee?]