Chapter 13: Finale

“What the He--? Can’t you watch one little girl?”

“It’s not my fault! She’s activated her power somehow…” The ground shook again as the stability of the dimension weakend. No other option left to them, Krystal and Deep Blue teleported away—the girl was expendable: she would expend the energy, aiding their cause, and then die.

What is this warmth? Ichigo openned her eyes to the bright light that now engulfed her body. Her Mew Ichigo costume was fading into her and she felt as though she were slowly falling through time and space. From within a voice replied, loud and clear. My friends… they need me. The world needs me… Ryou needs me!

“Stop right there!” Purin called out.

“Where’s Ichigo.” Mint added sharply. Krystal and Deep Blue stood back to back, having landed on Earth in the worst possible place.

“Heh, that fool? She’ll be dead soon.”

“Not our fault though,” commented Deep Blue with a shrug.

“Aoyama, what’s the matter with you. Ichigo’s sacrificed so much for you and yet you go back to your old powers and abilities.” Zakuro was furious. Deep Blue merely scoffed and repeated his earlier statement to Ichigo.

“I’VE HAD ENOUGH!” The familiar voice rolled through the dark skies of Tokyo like thunder. Deep Blue and Krystal quickly bowed and stood at attention. Slowly, the girls turned to see her there: Yukionna. “You two are complete and utter failures. Can’t you even handle one measly powerpoint?” She turned her attention to the Mews. “I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourselves—get ride of these four troublemakers. I’ll handle the girl.

Ichigo, hold on, I’m coming, Ryou thought as he raced on his motorcycle towards the flashing light on his dash area.

“Is it just me, or did it get really cold just now?” Retasu asked. No soon had the words been uttered that snowflakes began to fall with alarming speed from the sky.

“This is bad,” Purin cried.

“And it’s about to get worse,” added Krystal with a smirk.

The warm feeling surrounding Ichigo dispearsed with a cold blast of wind. Her barefeet touched down on snow, yet somehow they weren’t unbearably cold… some of the warmth remained.

“You were a fool to activate those powers before the time was right. You’ve jeapordized all my hard work, and for that you will pay little girl.” Yukionna moved sharply towards Ichigo. What do I do… Without my transformation… I’m just a girl...

“ICHIGO!” She felt him push her away from Yukionna’s attack before they landed on the cold ground below them. Ryou!

“Are you--?”

“I’m alright. You?”

“Yeah… listen, Ichigo I’m sorry. I’m an idiot. Please forgive me.”

“Ryou-kun…”

“LOOK OUT.” He’d caught sight of another attack and quickly rolled them out of the way sustaining an deep cut to his back.

“Stop it!” Ichigo stood up, fire blazing in her normally gently eyes. “Stop it now! I can’t let you hurt him, or anyone else. You came for me—finish me, and you can have the world. Ryou watched her helplessly from the ground.

“Fine,” she said with a snarl. With an elaborate motion of the hand, a barrier was placed around the immediate area. “No sense in someone else being involved, right?” Ichigo took a step back and prepared for battle.

“Zakura SPEAR!” The weapon clashed again against attacks from both Krystal and Deep Blue who seemed fairly insync throughout the battle.

“There’s gotta be something that can bring those two down,” Mint said through gasps for breath. “But what?”

“Maybe… I know Ichigo’s not here with us, but maybe if we pull our energy together we can hit ‘em both with all we’ve got.”

“I’m with Retasu,” said Purin.

“Let’s do it then!”

“Zakuro. Mint. Purin. Retasu. Are any of you there? Ryou?” Keiichiro repeated over and over again. He was worried. Energy levels all around the world were disasterously high, and the freezing process was nearing completion.

“Keiichiro, it’s Retasu. You there?”

“Retasu! I’ve never been so happy to hear your voice! What’s going on?”

“Deep Blue and Krystal are gone. We…”

“We got ‘em good! They can away like dogs with their tails down!” Keiichiro couldn’t help but laugh at Purin’s enthusiasm. But his relief was tempered by his lack of knowledge regarding Ryou and Ichigo.

“We’re are they?” Mint asked.

“I’m sending coordinates now, but it looks like there’s a pretty strong barrier up…”

“We’re on it!”

Ichigo stood there a moment as snow flakes fell around them. She closed her eyes… perhaps if she focused… there was no room for failure… An urge was building up inside her, a need to fight this battle—and a need to win! With no further hesitation her eyes flew open and she knew how to harness the power they had meant to be her downfall.

“PURIFYING LIGHT!” As she extended her arms to release the burst of energy, Yukionna performed a similar display.

“ICE BEAM!” The lights smashed into each other and the fight to save the Earth was on. Ichigo’s effort was indeed valient, but he strength was simply not that of her opponent—slowly the light of the enemy began to over take hers.

“Ichigo’s in trouble!” The girls all watched helplessly from the otherside of the barrier. Purin tried desperatly to break through but only bounced off.

“There’s nothing we can do,” said Retasu softly. “She’s on her own…” She sank sadly to the ground.

“Not necessarily.” They turned to Zakuro. “We pulled our powers earlier… perhaps we can also give them to Ichigo….”

“Right!” said Retasu with hope. “We can’t go through the barrier, but perhaps our powers can!”

“It’s worth a try,” added Mint.

From the otherside, Ryou had caught a glimpse of them and was relieved to see they were alright. Now he could focus all his attentions on Ichigo.

“Come on! You can do it Ichigo!” Something in his voice must have effected her, because the light began to grow.

“Mew Zakuro METAMORPHOSIS!”

“Mew Retasu METAMORPHOSIS!”

“Mew Purin METAMORPHOSIS!”

“Mew Mint METAMORPHOSIS!”

Ryou watched as the others lost their transformation. The light around Ichigo grew even more, until it completely overtook that of Yukionna. She cried out as the power erupted through her body before enveloping the world in its warmth.

“Ichigo, wake up or you’ll be late!”

“Coming right down Mom!”

Ichigo grabbed her lunch, slipped on her shoes, and headed on out the door. It had been three months since the battle with Yukionna and the world seem to be recovering quite well. Aoyama had ceased to exist in their world—only the Mews, Keiichiro, and Ryou remembered who he’d been. It pained her, but by now there was little she could do about it.

“Hey Strawberry, late as ever.”

“Ha ha. I’m getting better.”

“Yeah, you are,” he replied before kissing her deeply. “Ready to go?”

“Mhm, where’s everyone else?”

“They’re already there I bet. Let’s get going.”

Sakura watched the couple leave in Ryou’s car from the living room window. My little girls growing up, she sighed.

The car pulled up outside of the café where a big sign announced that it was closed to the public for the day. A celebration was long overdue with all their friends. Finally, the battle was won.

“Think you can handle being a normal girl after all this excitement,” he asked before they went in.

“We’ll see,” she replied simply. “We’ll see.”