Brought Together Chapter 24:

More Explanations

"Pai, what should we bring with us?" Sakura asked.

"I think you'll need clothes, toiletries, and sleeping gear," Pai said. "You might want to bring food as well, we don't currently have a lot of it."

"Should we tell the other Mews about this?" Kisshu asked.

"Probably a good idea," Pai said. "Kisshu, you go with Ichigo to explain what happened. I'll help these two with packing."

"Okay," Kisshu said. He nodded to Ichigo, and the two of them teleported off.

They landed in the kitchen of Café Mew Mew, and Ichigo called out, "Keiichiro?"

"Coming!" they heard from the main room. Keiichiro came into the kitchen, and stopped dead. "I-Ichigo? Is that you?" he asked, shocked.

"Hai," Ichigo said. "Can you call the other Mews together? I've got news."

"S-sure," Keiichiro said. He left, and about five minutes later, he came back and said, "Okay, they're on their way."

Some time later, the front door opened, and Mint, Lettuce, Pudding and Zakuro came in. They all gasped when they saw Ichigo standing next to Kisshu. "What happened?" Mint whispered in shock.

"Pai made a mistake," Ichigo said. "I'm a Cyniclon now."

"Ichigo, what was the news you were talking about?" Keiichiro asked. The others were too shocked to speak.

"I'm going to live on the Cyniclon's planet," Ichigo said. "As you can see, I'm not human anymore, and the leader of the Cyniclons has offered to let me and my parents live with them. I came to say goodbye, since I can't take you with me."

"Why na no da?" Pudding asked.

"Kuro-sama said only my parents could come," Ichigo explained. "Besides, you all have families here. You all are at least partially human. I'm not. I'm sorry, but I have to do this, minna."

"But you're our leader," Mint said. "What will we do without you?"

"Well, there's really no reason for Tokyo Mew Mew anymore, since the Cyniclons aren't attacking," Ichigo said. "Besides, if something comes up, we could come back to help."

"But-" Mint started.

Ichigo interrupted, saying, "Look, this is something I have to do. I'm not human anymore, and I can't go back. I'll really miss you guys, but you know that as a Cyniclon, I can't live on Earth."

Mint started to argue again, but Zakuro put a hand on her shoulder, and said, "Mint, Ichigo is right. If she lived here, she'd spend her life in hiding, or in jail for attacking Tokyo. If she goes to the Cyniclon's planet, she'll be free. I'll miss her too, but this is for the best."

Mint sniffed, then hugged Ichigo tightly. "I'll miss you," she said.

Ichigo hugged back and said, "I'll miss you too, Mint."

The other Mews came and hugged Ichigo one by one. Even Keiichiro gave her a hug. Finally, Ichigo said, "I have to go. I'll miss you all!"

"Bye!" the other Mews and Keiichiro said.

Ichigo and Kisshu nodded, and teleported back to Ichigo's house.

When they arrived, Pai looked up and said, "Good, you're back. We're about done here, so could you help me teleport this stuff to the ship?"

"Sure," Ichigo said. "Where are my parents?"

"They're on the ship, and this is the last of the stuff they want to take," Pai said. "I think it's mostly food."

"That's a lot of food," Ichigo said, looking around at the bags on the floor.

"Well, when I told your mother that we didn't have a lot of food on our planet currently, she insisted on going shopping, and then sent your father out to do more once she got back," Pai said. "I'd say we've got enough to feed an army by this point."

"That's my mom for you," Ichigo said. "I guess we should get these bags to the ship." She picked up a bunch of bags, and Kisshu and Pai did the same. They looked around, and saw that there was nothing left. "Hey, did my parents pack anything from my room?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh yeah," Pai said. "Your mom spent quite a bit of time in there, and made your dad pack their stuff."

"We should get going," Kisshu said. "Is this everything?"

"Yep," Pai said. They then teleported to the ship. "Let's put all this in the kitchen," Pai said.

The three of them teleported to the kitchen, and put the food down. "Where do you think my parents are?" Ichigo asked.

"We're right here," Sakura said from behind them. "This ship is very nice. Taruto gave us the tour."

"We should be leaving soon," Pai said. "I suggest you all go sit down somewhere. Taruto, you're copiloting again."

"Oh, fine," Taruto said. The two of them teleported off.

"Kisshu, should we go to your room?" Ichigo asked.

"Sure," Kisshu said. "I guess your parents should come too."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Mom, Dad, we should go before the ship starts."

"Sure," Sakura said. "Lead the way."

"I thought we could teleport," Kisshu said.

"Oh, right," Ichigo said. She grabbed Shintaro's hand, while Kisshu grabbed Sakura's shoulder. The two of them teleported Ichigo's parents to Kisshu's room, just as Pai said over the intercom, "We're taking off, so sit down."

Ichigo and the others sat down. "Wow," Sakura said. "I never expected to be going to another planet."

"Now that we used the Mew Aqua on it, Cyniclonia is really pretty," Kisshu said. "There's still a lot to do, though. We got permission to leave, but they need everyone who is able to help build new homes. It'll be good to get back."

"What can we do to help?" Sakura asked.

"You'd have to ask Kuro-sama, he's our leader," Kisshu said. "I'm certainly not the one in charge; that'd be a disaster."

Ichigo giggled. "You'd hate being in charge, right?"

"No, but it would make me very nervous," Kisshu said. "Besides, I'm too young for that kind of responsibility."

"How old are you, Kisshu?" Shintaro asked.

"I'm fourteen, a year older than Ichigo," Kisshu said.

"And they sent you to Earth alone to take it over?" Sakura asked. "That's a lot of responsibility for someone so young…"

"I was the best warrior on our planet," Kisshu said. "A lot of my people were sick or too weak from the lack of food to train for the army, but I was strong enough, and it turned out to be good that I joined the military, because it took my mind off my sister's death."

"Your sister is dead? I'm so sorry!" Sakura said.

"Thanks," Kisshu said quietly. "My parents died as well. A lot of my people died. We didn't have enough food, and a lot of people got sick, like my sister. I'm so glad we formed a truce with the Mews, since we got the Mew Aqua. Now my people can live."

"What was your sister's name, if you don't mind me asking?" Shintaro asked.

"Her name was Ichigo, and she was a lot like your Ichigo," Kisshu said. "By the way, don't be surprised if strangers come up to Ichigo and call her by name; she looks exactly like my sister."

"That must be strange for you, since your girlfriend looks exactly like your sister," Sakura commented.

"I think it will be even stranger for those who knew my sister," Kisshu said. "I know this Ichigo isn't my sister, since I witnessed her transformation, but others are going to have a harder time with this, I think."

"We'll get through it," Ichigo said. "I'm more worried about people accepting my parents than me, since I'm a Cyniclon and they're not."

"We'll be fine," Sakura said. "I'll keep Shintaro under control, if that's what you're worried about."

"That was part of it," Ichigo said. "We don't need the overprotective side coming out too much."

"I know," Sakura said. "If we want to live here, we have to make sure we don't do anything that might offend others." She gave Shintaro a significant look.

"Fine…. I won't get too overprotective," Shintaro said.

"I can take care of myself, Dad," Ichigo said. "After all, I can fight too, and Kisshu has a habit of keeping other boys away from me."

"I get the picture," Shintaro said. "I can't protect you the way Kisshu can anyways."

"Kisshu, is there anything you think we should know before we get there?" Sakura asked.

"I think you just need to be polite," Kisshu said. "Kuro-sama might explain more, but for now, you just need to settle in and not call attention to yourselves. Some of my people might be a little uncomfortable around humans, but no one will go against Kuro-sama's word. He's very well respected."

"Okay," Sakura and Shintaro said.

Suddenly Pai's voice came over the intercom, and said, "We're about to enter Cyniclonia's atmosphere, so stay seated. We'll land soon."

Sorry I took so long, I didn't have Internet access for quite a while after I moved, but I spent my time thinking up new ideas for this story. I know this was filler, but I hope you'll all review it and the next few chapters as well!