Betraying My People Chapter 20:

A New Journey

Pai, Taruto and Zakuro came to stand with Kisshu and Ichigo. Suddenly there was a loud POP, and the other Mews appeared behind them. Now Deep Blue looked concerned. Kisshu noticed, and smirked. "Now what will YOU do?" he asked. "All of us are here, and free. Can you really fight all nine of us?"

"I am a GOD! I can do anything!" Deep Blue screamed. He drew his sword, and lunged at Kisshu, who took out his Dragon Swords and caught the sword's blade between his. Deep Blue pulled back, and Kisshu lunged. Deep Blue raised his blade just in time to stop Kisshu from cutting his arm off. Kisshu snarled, and with his other sword, stabbed Deep Blue in the shoulder, causing him to drop the sword.

Kisshu kicked Deep Blue's sword out of reach, and Deep Blue backed up as Kisshu lunged. Kisshu crossed his Dragon Swords, then formed an energy blast, and sent it at Deep Blue, who dodged it. Kisshu took advantage of his distraction and lunged forward again, then teleported. He reappeared straight in front of Deep Blue, one sword pressed against his neck, the other poised over his heart. Deep Blue went still, and Kisshu smirked. Then he stabbed Deep Blue through the heart, and at the same time, slit his throat.

Deep Blue let out a choked scream, and as Kisshu jumped back, collapsed. Before anyone could do anything else, Deep Blue's body suddenly went up in smoke.

When the smoke cleared, the body was gone. In its place was something that looked like a ball made of pale blue glass. "What is that?" Ichigo asked.

Pai replied, "It's Mew Aqua, and a lot of it. This is great! We can heal our planet!"

Everyone cheered. Ichigo went to Kisshu and said, "You were amazing, Kisshu."

"Thanks, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said happily. He picked up the large ball of Mew Aqua, and said, "Let's go back, minna."

Pai nodded and said, "All of you grab one of us. We're going back to the Café."

The Mews obeyed, and they all teleported back to the Café's basement. They found Keiichiro at one of the computers, and he spun when he heard them. "How'd it go? Are you all okay?" he asked.

"We're fine," Kisshu said with a grin. "And I killed Deep Blue, so we don't have to worry about him anymore."

"Wow, that's amazing," Keiichiro said. "Hey, is that Mew Aqua?"

"Yeah, Deep Blue's body went up in smoke, and when the smoke cleared, this is what was left," Kisshu said.

"I guess that means we won't need the sensor," Keiichiro said. "But I'm glad you're all safe. What will you do now?"

"I think our first priority is to save our planet," Pai said. "We'll see how that goes. If we get exiled, we'll definitely be coming back, but if not, we might not be back too often. I think we'll still visit, though."

"Well, I wish you luck," Keiichiro said. "Ichigo, are you going with them?"

"Hai," Ichigo said. "I don't really have anything left on Earth, it's better that I go with them. Besides, I can't live without Kisshu."

"Aw, thanks," Kisshu said. "I couldn't live without you either."

Ichigo smiled and said, "Should we get going?"

"Hai," Pai said. "We should find a safe place on the ship for the Mew Aqua."

"Do you want a box for it?" Keiichiro asked. "I have one."

"Sure, thanks," Pai said. Keiichiro smiled and went to get it. He brought the box back and gave it to Pai, who put the Mew Aqua inside it. "We should go," Pai said. "Thank you all for all your help."

"You're welcome," Keiichiro said. "And good luck."

"Thanks," Pai said.

Pudding glomped Taruto, and said, "I'll miss you, Taru-Taru!"

Taruto turned red and said, "I-I'll miss you too, Pudding."

The others smiled at the cute couple, but finally it was time to leave. Kisshu took Ichigo's hand, and teleported back to the ship, followed by Pai and Taruto.

They landed in the main room, and Pai said, "Taruto, you're my copilot, so meet me in the control room."

Taruto sighed, but teleported out. Pai turned to Kisshu and Ichigo and said, "You two should go back to your room, I'll let you know when we land. And don't go too far, got it?"

"How many times are you going to tell us that?" Kisshu asked irritably. "We've never given you a reason to believe we'd go any further than kissing, have we?"

Pai sighed. "I just worry about you," he muttered. "Lovesick people make mistakes. I don't want that to happen to you."

Kisshu sighed and said, "I won't go too far, and neither will Ichigo. You should go to the control room, I bet Taruto's getting impatient. I promise not to do anything beyond kissing."

"Okay," Pai said. He teleported out, and Kisshu teleported Ichigo to their room.

They landed on the bed, and Kisshu sighed. "Pai's such a worrywart," he complained.

"I guess it's just because he cares," Ichigo said.

Kisshu sighed again, then said, "I'm tired, can we go to sleep for a while? It's about an eight hour flight."

"Sure," Ichigo said. She and Kisshu got under the covers and curled up together. Kisshu fell asleep immediately, but Ichigo lay awake for a while longer, watching him. I guess the battle tired him out, she thought. I'm not really tired, though, but I wasn't the one fighting. She started stroking Kisshu's hair gently, and he leaned into her hand. To her surprise, he made a noise that sounded somewhat like her purring. That's odd, she thought, continuing to stroke his hair. I didn't know Cyniclons could purr. It's cute, though. Eventually, Kisshu's purring put her to sleep.

A while later, Pai woke Ichigo up, and said, "Why is Kisshu making that noise?"

"I don't know, he sounds like me when I'm purring," Ichigo said. "You're saying this isn't normal?"

"I've never heard him make that sound before," Pai said. "I hope it's nothing bad."

"I doubt it," Ichigo said. "I make that noise when I'm happy."

"I guess," Pai said. "I actually came to tell you two that we landed, so will you wake up Kisshu?"

"Sure," Ichigo said. She shook Kisshu's shoulder, and said, "Kisshu, time to get up, we're here."

Kisshu sleepily opened his eyes. "K…" he said.

"Kisshu, are you feeling okay?" Pai asked.

"I'm tired, but other than that, I'm feeling fine," Kisshu replied. "Why?"

"You were purring," Pai said. "And it's not exactly normal for you to be tired for this long."

"I was purring?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah, after you fell asleep, I started stroking your hair, and you started purring," Ichigo said. "I think it's cute."

"Wow," Kisshu said. "But why would I be purring?"

"I don't know," Pai admitted. "Maybe later on, I'll see what I can find out. Right now, we've been called to meet with the Council."

Kisshu and Ichigo both jumped out of bed, and started getting their hair and clothes in order. Then Kisshu teleported himself and Ichigo out of the ship, and landed in a barren wasteland. Surprisingly, there were a large number of Cyniclons waiting. Pai and Taruto teleported out soon after, Pai holding the box of Mew Aqua.

As soon as they landed, an older Cyniclon woman came forward, and said, "What news do you have?"

Pai bowed and replied respectfully, "Good and bad, Siria-sama. Deep Blue told us that he never intended to help us, and wanted Earth for himself. He also tried to kill Kisshu and Ichigo numerous times, and kidnapped both me and Taruto to use as bait for the others."

Siria-sama said, "I was afraid of that. Ikisatashi Aran came to the Council two weeks ago, saying that you had come back and informed him that Deep Blue was only using us. May I ask why you did not simply come to me yourself?"

"I apologize," Pai said. "It was very late at night when I arrived, and I did not wish to disturb others. Also, we had pressing matters to attend to on Earth, namely killing Deep Blue."

"I see," Siria-sama said. "And how did that go?"

"Kisshu single-handedly killed Deep Blue during the confrontation we had after he was awakened," Pai replied.

Siria-sama looked mildly startled, and turned to Kisshu. "Kisshu, you defeated Deep Blue without help?" she asked.

"Hai," Kisshu said. "I believe that his true reason for trying to kill me and Ichigo was that he knew he wouldn't win against all of us if Ichigo and I could fight."

"Well, thank you," Siria-sama said. "I take it we're all safe from him now?"

"Hai," Pai said. "And we have brought the means to revive this planet, so we no longer need Earth. It would be extremely hard to live there anyways; the planet is quite polluted."

"You have the means to revive the planet? How?" Siria-sama asked.

"Mew Aqua," Pai replied. "We have enough in this box to revive the planet." He opened the box and showed her the large ball of Mew Aqua.

There was a collective gasp among those gathered, and Siria-sama looked startled. "You have that much?" she asked.

"Hai," Pai said. "With your permission, we'd like to show you its power."

Siria-sama nodded, and Pai turned to Kisshu, Ichigo and Taruto, then said, "Let's do it together."

They nodded, and Pai placed the Mew Aqua down. Each of them put a hand on the ball, and added their powers to the Mew Aqua, then pushed it into the barren ground. A blinding flash was the result.

When the flash faded, everyone looked up. There was a loud gasp, and everyone's jaws dropped. They were standing in a field of flowers, and the sun was out. There was a large forest and a stream nearby, and overhead, they saw a flock of birds flying over.

The Cyniclons were in awe, but before they could do anything else, Ichigo said, "Hey, where's Kisshu?"

The others looked around. Kisshu was nowhere to be seen. "What happened?" Pai asked. "He was here a few seconds ago."

Ichigo felt something touch her leg softly, and looked down. A small blackish-green kitten was looking up at her- with golden eyes that looked exactly like Kisshu's. "Guys, I found Kisshu, but there's a problem," she said. When the others turned to her, she picked up the kitten and said, "I think Kisshu somehow turned into a kitten."

Pai came closer, looking shocked. "Kisshu?" he whispered. The kitten mewed and nodded.

"This isn't too good," Taruto said.

"Taruto, that's the understatement of the century," Pai said. "But we need to find out why this happened."

"What if it was the Mew Aqua?" Ichigo asked. "Kisshu was acting like a cat earlier, and he's the one who's had the most direct contact with it. What if it somehow turned him into a cat?"

"I didn't even think that was possible," Pai said. "But I can't think of another explanation, unless he somehow had cat genes from hanging out with you, and the Mew Aqua activated them."

"Then why didn't I turn into a cat?" Ichigo asked.

"Maybe because you have control over that half of you and Kisshu doesn't," Pai said. "The problem is, I don't know how to turn him back!"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Ichigo said. She was still cradling Kisshu in her arms, and he rolled over and reached a paw up.

"Why is he doing that?" Pai asked.

"I've got a theory," Ichigo said. "Let's see if I'm right." She put Kisshu down and untied one of her hair ribbons, then dangled it in front of Kisshu's nose. Kisshu started batting at it, and Ichigo said, "Cats like things like ribbons to play with. They see them moving and chase them, or bat at them like Kisshu's doing." She raised the ribbon a little higher, and Kisshu jumped, biting it. Ichigo wiggled the ribbon, and Kisshu put his paws on it, trying to keep it. Ichigo giggled and dropped the ribbon. Kisshu looked at it, and saw that it wasn't moving. He let it go.

"Why did he stop?" Taruto asked.

"Because it wasn't moving," Ichigo explained. "Once something stops moving, cats lose interest in it, and go find something else to do."

Kisshu mewed at her, and she picked him back up, scratching his ears. He let out a contented purr, and started to fall asleep.

Siria-sama had been watching all this, and came over. "What should we do?" she asked.

"I will try to find a way to turn Kisshu back, the rest of you can do as you please," Pai said. "Ichigo, what do cats eat?"

"Meat and fish," Ichigo said. "Do we have any on the ship?"

"I think we still have some chicken," Pai said. "I don't think we have fish, though."

"Well, maybe there's some in that stream," Taruto said. "Who's taking care of him?"

"I will," Ichigo said. "Cats in general spend about 19 hours a day sleeping anyways, so it shouldn't be too hard. Although kittens can get pretty hyper."

"Well, we'll leave that to you, then," Siria-sama said. "You seem to know quite a bit about cats."

"I'm half cat, and I always loved them," Ichigo said. "Still, I never expected my boyfriend to turn into one."

Siria-sama sighed and turned back to Pai. "I guess Ichigo will be living with your family?" she asked.

"I assume so, unless they have objections," Pai said. "Are they here?"

"We're here," Hamaya said, coming out of the crowd with Aran. "We'd be happy to have Ichigo, since she's taken such good care of you all."

"Thank you," Ichigo said.

Hamaya and Aran smiled, and Aran said, "I think you should call us Uncle Aran and Aunt Hamaya like Kisshu does. Technically, we're adopting you as well."

"Thanks, Uncle Aran," Ichigo said.

"Where's your belongings?" Aunt Hamaya asked.

"On the ship," Ichigo said.

"I'll bring your stuff and Kisshu's," Pai said. "You don't seem to have a lot, Ichigo."

"I took what I could carry when I left," Ichigo explained. "I didn't want to take too much in case I had a lot of trouble finding Kisshu."

"That's true," Pai said. "Well, I'll go get that stuff and bring it to our home. Mom, Dad, you should take Ichigo and Kisshu back, I'll be by soon."

"Okay," Uncle Aran said. "Follow us, Ichigo."

Ichigo nodded, and carrying Kisshu, who was sleeping, she followed her new family to their home.

Well, this is an interesting twist. Kisshu is now a kitten! Will Pai figure out how to turn him back? Or will he stay a kitten forever? The only way to find out is to review! I want at least three reviews or more before I update!