I really REALLY appreciate all of your support. Thank you all for your kind comments and reassurances, have I ever told you all how much I love you guys? I also love writing this story, so don't worry! I won't stop no matter what! I wonder how many chapters this story will be… my longest finished story ended up being twelve chapters, I hope to make this longer, but you never know… anyway enjoy the chapter!
Ichigo's POV
I watched anxiously as she twisted on the ground, she was still injured from her electrocution, and had horrible burns, this wasn't helping.
Just when I couldn't take it anymore and was about to fling myself on her and try to help, she stopped moving. A light enveloped her, and then faded. Slowly and carefully she got up.
"Looks like she didn't reject it" commented Ryou, he was still bleeding and badly injured from my attack earlier, but he seemed proud.
"Lettuce, are you alright?" I questioned, she nodded slowly
"Yes, I-I think so"
"She transformed…!" said Tart with shock. I looked at Lettuce and she had indeed transformed.
Her previously long leaf-green hair had shortened considerably and was a yellow-green colour, similar to lime. And like me her clothes had changed into an embarrassingly revealing outfit.
Hers was a tube-top one piece styled swimsuit the colour of ripe kiwis, she arm bands and a leg band as well. One thing that she now possessed that she probably couldn't have dreamed of having before was a pair of ankle high boots made of soft fabric.
She did not have ears, nor did she have a tail. What she did have was two thin fin-like appendages criss-crossing around her body; the ends did not touch where they met at the top of her head.
She also had a thicker somewhat tubular fin that came from the back of her head, where it came from exactly wasn't apparent as it came out from under her hair, but it ended around her tailbone area.
"Lettuce, how do you feel?" I asked again, she looked at me and smiled with her shy, but elevating smile.
"Ichigo, I feel better than I have in four years!" What she said didn't surprise me much, right now, she had been healed of all her wounds, seemingly by magic, and she was refreshed with more energy than I had ever seen her with.
The aliens had stolen our lives from us, and right now, I believed she felt like she had a bit of her own life again.
Pudding looked like she might explode with energy as she leapt into the air and exclaimed
"I wanna get some too!" This news was new to everyone, except for me and her companions.
"Pudding you want to risk death to get animal parts?" Asked her new bozu Tart, she nodded vigorously
"Uh-huh, I want it more than anything!" She told him.
"Pudding, you can't just do that! What if you get hurt? Or what if does work, but works wrong? And even if it did work out properly, you would have no way to ever go back to normal!" I told her, fearing for her safety because she didn't.
But she looked at me, her normally childish eyes serious and hard, she placed a hand on both of my shoulders and spoke in earnest
"Ichigo, do not take my request lightly. I have considered the possibilities, what I asked was not merely the impulse of a child. But the well thought over petition of a woman."
I was startled at the maturity with which she had spoken, behind her childish antics and her infantile appearance she had wisdom of sorts.
"Then, there is no reason for me attempt to stop you, but you will have to ask Ryou about it" I told her, a sense of respect for her finally appearing within me.
She smiled the look of maturity in her eyes still, and then she turned towards Ryou
"Please mister! You've gotta let me!" she begged
"I will, but only if your friend agrees not to attack me again, no matter what happens." he said, I nodded grudgingly.
"I think you guys have also forgotten two important some ones in this equation." My bozu said, I detected irritation in his voice, so I went to him, in case there was a way to appease him into relenting to Pudding's request.
"If you do this, you won't be the only one taking a risk Pudding, if you die, or become physically disabled I'll have to pay the price too" said Tart
"I won't die, and I won't get injured! I promise!" Pudding told him
"Do you, pinky swear..?" he asked hesitantly
"I pinky swear" Pudding said with all seriousness as she proffered her pinky to him, he accepted her promise.
"Bozu, I know that the land in which this place Ryou spoke of is part of your lands, but please, let Pudding take the elixir" I whispered into my Bozu's ear, while wrapping my arms around his waist in an embrace.
"You know I can't deny you" he whispered back, then he kissed me, I forced myself not to pull back, stiffen or flinch, even when he French kissed.
This was important to Pudding, I couldn't mess up any chance that she had, simply because I was out of my comfort zone, I even slightly kissed him back to try to get him to let them try. But Kish knew me better than that, he pulled back from me.
"You really are a caring girl, aren't you? I wanted to know how far you would go, right here, for your friend. You kissed me back, even though you hate me, you hate my affection.
Don't think I don't know how important this is for you or for Pudding. I'll let them try to change her, but I want to get to a point where you'll truly love me, and treat me like your friend, and not just like your master"
I hung my head so I didn't have to look him in the eyes
"What you ask for, takes sacrifice on both sides, a true relationship is based on trust, respect, and love. All of which are earned at a hard price. More so once the trust and respect has been broken."
He nodded resignedly "I thought it might be that way"
Then he turned away from me.
"Alright, so we'll go now. You two, do you want to go too?" he asked Berry and Ringo
"Well, I would go, but…" Ringo didn't finish her sentence
"Oh, your Bozu would be mad right?" He said
"Oh no, we don't have any Bozu's right now. We're worried that if we do transform, we might never get picked" Ringo told him
"Don't worry. I'll tell you one thing, unusual things are a hot commodity" he replied, the two smiled shyly
"Okay then, we can try. besides, if we die then we won't have to worry anymore!" Berry announced. My Bozu then got that look in his eye, the pitying, thinking look I had seen few times before.
With directions from Ryou, we managed to get there in a short time. When we got there it seemed just like a shadowed narrow opening in the now abandoned section of the mines. But if we pushed past it, it opened up into the cavern he had promised.
Like Ryou had described the walls were lined with radiant polychromatic crystals.
"Can I pick a colour?" Asked Pudding eagerly and happily, Ryou nodded. Pudding ran around the cave quickly, before stopping at her chosen colour
"Are you sure?" He asked
"Yellow is my lucky colour! I just know it'll be fine!" Pudding said smiling
"Okay, what are you two's choices?" Ryou asked the other two girls
"White" Berry said like how she said everything else, with confidence.
"Blue, no, red. Yeah, red" Ringo said somewhat tentatively. Ryou nodded at all of their picks, and set to work in creating the elixirs that would change them, or kill them.
Half an hour later he presented three sparkling blue liquids. One had shimmers of red, another had white, and lastly faint yellow. He care transferred each liquid into a syringe needle.
"Who will go first?" He asked
"I will!" volunteered Pudding
"Alright, please expose your arm" he asked. Pudding rolled up the sleeve of her light yellow blouse. Slowly he injected the blue-tinted-yellow liquid.
Pudding screamed.
Woohooo for cliff hangers! Laugh, this chapter was really hard to write… specially after Kish and Ichigo's talk… I hope you enjoyed it