Just asking…did anybody watch Big Brother tonight? (or I guess last night, or Sunday night, whenever this is posted.) Also, for people reading this like WhatevertheWaffle, in Futari Wa purple stars that shouted "GOMMENA" came after a Zackenna was destroyed by Pretty Cure.

Here's your story! ~~

Ryota felt his stomach vibrate and roll around, several times a minute. "Mom and Dad have to be out of the food court by now, I guess I'll work my way back to it and buy myself a hamburger…yum!"

"GOMMENA! GOMMENA! GOMMENA!" The black star was flopping around in Ryota's back pocket. Black dust was falling off of it, falling into the young boy's shoes, shirt, you name it.

"Would you like this necklace, dear?" Takeshi asked his wife in the "sophisticated" jewelry store that was so glittery with chandeliers and high-end jewels that it hurt to look at it from a distance.

Rie was loving Takeshi's sudden optimism and generosity, but something just didn't sit right with her. "Oh it's lovely, but you don't have to spend that much money on me, dear!" Is this the man I married? The woman's gaze fell outside of the store. "T-Takeshi, is that-?"

Takeshi's pupils dilated as he saw what he could have sworn was his son, walking in the busiest part of the mall, alone. "Um, no that's not Ryota honey, I swear. He's back at the hotel, remember?"

"Right." Rie tried to look her husband in the eye, however it took all of her strength not to look outside the store once again.

"Let's see how this looks on you." Takeshi grabbed the glittery white necklace and hooked it around her neck, with emerald shining as it rested on her chest. "What do you think, honey? It really suits you."

"Yeah, it's nice." Rie didn't resist to look outside the store one more time, sighing with relief as she realized that that boy just had the same shirt as Ryota and the boy had black hair, hanging in his eyes. She looked up to her husband, this time with a genuine smile. "I really like it."

Chapter Five

"You REALLY did it this time Nagisa! You're such an idiot – mepo!" Mepple was shouting from his pocket case.

"Oh, shut up!" Nagisa snapped at him as the trio ran around the mall. The sandy blonde didn't care who heard-they were in a country where they probably didn't understand their language. "You didn't do anything to stop it!"

"Guys!" Honoka shouted to them both. "Arguing will do nothing but distract us from finding Ryota!"

Nagisa, who was leading the group, randomly stopped and rustled her hair, looking at the ceiling that seemed high enough to be infinite. "Airenaii! This mall is so huge, what chance would we have of finding him?"

"Maybe the temp-a-tours got him…" Hikari mumbled to herself, looking in no particular direction.

Mipple, Mepple, Nagisa, and Honoka all stopped their conversation and turned towards Hikari. "Huh?" They all questioned her in unison.

Hikari's gaze met her friends'. "Didn't you guys watch T.V. this morning?"

There was a second of silence, everyone confused, then Honoka shook her head. "Whatever. I think we should just go outside and find a payphone, so we can call my grandmother about this."

"Sure, I guess it's our only option." Dad's gonna kill me…

The trio walked outside in the bitter cold, getting a warm aroma of deep fried foods and warmed treats to tickle your heart and warm your hands, all at once. Seeing the hot dogs, the hot chocolate, the city's giant Christmas tree, these things made Nagisa think back to the day when this all started. December fourteenth, the day that began so happily. She found it hard to believe that she could count on one hand the number of days ago that she never knew this would happen. But, here they were.

"I'm hungry – lulu!" This high pitched whine suddenly bursting from Hikari's pocket startled them all. "I'm hungry – lulu!"

"Okay, Lulun." Hikari tried to smile through her exhaustion. "I'll feed you and Pollun right now, just give me a second to-"

"I WANT THOSE HOT DOGS THEY HAVE OVER THERE – LULU!" A cloud of pink dust suddenly trails Lulun turning into her Field Of Light form and running in the snow.

"LULUN!" They all shouted.

"I need to get her back – popo!" Pollun leaped out of Hikari's pocket with a trail of blue dust behind him. He dashed into the dark back alley behind Lulun. "I need to get her back – popo!"

"POLLUN!" The trio sprinted to the back alley to get their little friends back, but suddenly a plump woman in an apron blocked them.

The overweight woman spoke something in English that none of them could grasp, but followed up by pointing to a sign that said NO ENTER, which Honoka could understand. Finally, the woman held out a plate covered in treats and said another sentence.

"Now, I understand THAT!" Nagisa said to her friends, grabbing one. "Ya-ta!"

The woman took away the treat from the hungry teen. She yelled at her angrily, and walked away from them, blocking the back alley.

"Nagisa…" Honoka said under her breath with an annoyed tone. "Why did you just take one?"

As they were walking down the street, Nagisa's face fell, sighing a white cloud into the frosty air. "I thought they were free samples!"

Hikari, who was leading the way, stopped walking and turned around. "We've got more things to worry about!" She smacked her fist into her other hand. "Now we've lost three people that we love! What are we gonna do?"

"My Dad would kill me if he found out we went outside of the mall!" Nagisa yelled. "We need to keep looking for Ryota and go back!"

"But, Pollun and Lulun-" Tears welled up in Hikari's eyes.

"You need to hurry up and make a plan – mipo." Mipple said, shaking from Honoka's pouch. "I can feel Pollun and Lulun's presence getting more and more distant – mipo!"

"That's it!" Honoka exclaimed, snapping her fingers." Mipple and Mepple can feel their presence, right?"

"Yeah, just like our first day of being Pretty Cure." Nagisa smiled as she looked into the white and gray clouds. "Mepple lead me to Honoka."

Honoka didn't even acknowledge Nagisa's trip down memory lane. She was all business. "So that means we should look for them right now, before their presence gets too weak for Mipple and Mepple to feel. With their help, we can find them in no time, and in the meantime we can find a payphone and call my grandmother."

XXXXX

"I'm sorry that I couldn't afford that necklace for you, dear." Takeshi said, as the couple walked through the mall of New York City.

"It's okay." Rie tried pulling off a smile. She wasn't angry that he didn't buy it, she was angry that Takeshi lied-she saw the price and knew very well that he could afford it, especially since the stones weren't even real.

Rie actually had her eye on a REAL pearl necklace. She liked the idea and the looks of it, because her birthstone was in fact a pearl. She sighed. Maybe if she saved her pennies…

Their thoughts were interrupted when the married couple walked by the electronics store. The first thing Rie noticed was the glass had finger prints and a nose print on it. She stopped and shook her head. "Those little kids…"

"Yeah…" Takeshi said.

"Due to an extreme blizzard in our forecast, flights will be canceled and delayed for a matter of weeks in the state of New York."

The couple may not have understood English, but they could tell what the weatherman was saying with the pictures of airplanes and huge line ups at the airport they were just at.

"Takeshi!" Rie's hand flew to her jawline in shock. "WEEKS? We need to go back to the hotel and tell the children…"

"Right." Two seconds later, Takeshi just realized that the children actually weren't at the hotel. "U-um, are you sure you want to, Rie, darling?"

"Yes!" Rie grabbed her husband's wrist and pulled him through the mall. "Of course I do! Let's go!"

XXXXX

"To the left – mepo!" Mepple pulled on his case so hard, it pulled Nagisa across the ice. "No, to the right – mepo!"

"Ugh, can't you make up your mind already?" Nagisa snapped at the creature from the Field of Light. The snow was starting to get thick with the wind, so the trio had a lot of trouble seeing both from the snow and the wind making them pierce their eyes. It wasn't very helpful to them at all that Mepple kept pulling them in different directions.

Hikari looked up to the sky thoughtfully. "They DO run around awfully fast…" She mumbled.

Honoka shielded her eyes with her wrist. "I don't know how they would in this weather…judging by the high altitudes of the wind and snow, I'd say that this is turning into a blizzard."

Mepple continued to pull Nagisa around the city, with her other teen friends tagging behind her. With the color of the sky and the snow thickening even more, all they could see was white and the colors of their bright coats. When Mipple began to pull Honoka around as well, they ended up pulling Honoka and Nagisa to smack together, then slide to the ground in the feelings of hopelessness. Hikari sat down beside them.

When Hikari felt behind her, she realized that she was leaning up against a wall of some sort. She let her hands feel the cold, bumpy wall. It was a brick wall of some sort, but painted silver and covered in a layer of frost. She turned back around, scrunching up her fists in the oversized sleeves of her coat. She was so cold.

They had been silent for a while. All they could hear was the whistles of the strong winds that sliced at their bare cheeks like knives. If you squinted through the snow enough, you could see that the sun was beginning to set. Hikari looked around her settings, until the sight of something set a spark of hope bouncing around inside her.

"Guys!" Hikari exclaimed to her dear friends, breaking the heavy silence. "Over there! I see a telephone booth!"

"Great job Hikari!" The older teens said together, running with her towards it. They were thankful to be inside, since it was so warm.

"Well, I don't have any cash…" Honoka said, digging deep through her empty pockets. "But I know Nagisa brought a lot of her Birthday money she's saved from October, right?"

"Yup!" Nagisa said with a smile. She stuck her hand in her coat pocket. "Now, how much Yen does it need for a phone call?"

There was a moment of silence. "Yen?" Honoka said. "Don't you have American cash?"

"I'm Japanese…" Nagisa said. "What would I be doing with American cash?"

Honoka's cold hands curled to trembling fists. "You…didn't convert your cash…at the airport?"

"No…"

Honoka grabbed Nagisa by the shoulders and exploded like none of them had seen her explode before. "How could you be so…so stupid?"

"Hey, there's no need to get mean!"

Before you knew it, the former Pretty Cure duo broke out in an argument as if Hikari wasn't even there. As they were fighting, Hikari walked out of the phone booth and squatted on the icy ground. She scanned everywhere around her feet, picked up a quarter, and showed it to them. "Guys!" She said, interrupting their fight. "I have the money!"

"Way to go Hikari!" Nagisa said. "What would we do without you?"

Hikari grinned, but she was happier about breaking up the fight than actually getting the phone call.

Honoka put the snow caked coin in the slot, punched in the number for the hotel they were staying at, and grabbed the spiral-shaped cord as she heard it ring.

"Holiday Inn, how may I help you?"

She spoke her best English. "Room 205, please."

She heard it ringing again. For a very long time. Honoka twisted the phone cord around her fingers tighter as she counted the rings. 18. 19. 20…

Suddenly, the phone went back to the main desk. "We're sorry, but the person in that hotel room doesn't seem to be answering."

Honoka twisted the cord even tighter around her fingers. The circulation being cut was uncomfortable. "Um, this is kind of emergency. Knock on our door. Please!"

"Certainly." The anxious girl was put on hold for about fifteen minutes. "I'm sorry ma'am, she's in the room but doesn't seem to be answering our knocks."

Honoka dropped the phone and looked into space. Grandma!

"Ma'am? Are you okay ma'am?"

I should have stayed and taken care of you.