Tokyo Mew Mew Fan Fiction ❯ Awaken Mew Mew ❯ New Beginnings ( Chapter 1 )

Awaken Mew Mew

Chapter I - New Beginnings

<i>Ugh...

W-what?! Where am I? What happened?!

Oh yeah. Stupid phone pole, who gave it permission to fall...

Why's everyone looking at me like that? And why are Mint, Lettuce, Pudding, Zakuro, Berii, Ryou, Keiichiro, and Megu here? Japan is really, really far from England. Have I really been unconscious for so long that they could've heard about me, boarded a plane, and flown over here?

Ouch! It heards when I move. The back of my head and neck feels warm. And wet. I can't move much, but that doesn't matter, 'cause it hurts to even breathe and I wouldn't move even if someone offered to pay me a million dollars.

Don't cry, Lettuce, I'm going to be fine. I think. I'm going to be okay, aren't I?

Masaya's not here. I wonder why.

Oh no, now Lettuce has Mint going. Now two of my best friends are bawling over me. Pudding isn't crying, but her eyes are misty, and she's leaning on the bed. Her lips are moving, but I can't hear her. Everything is so eerily silent. Zakuro has her back turned to me, but she's trembling very slightly.

Everything is so creepy. I want them to tell me what's wrong, but I know I won't be able to hear them even if they scream. I look around the hospital room - my eyes are the only things I can move without hurting myself. It's so... white. Just white. The moniter catches my eye. It's a neon green line against a black screen, jumping up and down with every heartbeat. My heart's not being very active.

It's been so weird. I... I want my mom to come and hold me tight.

God, I'm tired. I want to get some sleep. OUCH! Relaxing hurts more than it's supposed to. At least I'm going to get some sleep. What? Did everyone just... Gasp? Oh well... Probably... nothing...</i>

"Ichigo! Wake up!"

"No, Ichigo, stay awake!"

"Ichigo!"

"Ichi..."

"...Go..."

"..."

***

Only one thing could be seen in the black void. It was a winged girl, with flowing blue hair that billowed around her gentle features, streaming to her knees. Soft limpid blue eyes gazed into the emptiness, along with large, luxurious pastel pink wings sprouting from her shoulders. The girl was dressed in a vivid, iridescent long-sleeved kimono, one that a young woman would probably wear to hatsumode. Her blocky sandals made no noise as she wandered aimlessly through the darkness, holding a bright, glowing light.

Ichigo awoke nearby the girl, who was sitting on the invisible ground and obviously had been awaiting her awakening. The pink-haired girl also found herself dressed in a furisode kimono, floral prints of delicate and beautiful flowers decorating the silky cloth. She realized that she had also become a 12-year-old again. Ichigo blinked and looked around. "Am I dead?"

"Yes and no. In the world you call Earth," The girl made a waving movement around the light. It shaped into a globe of Earth, "Yes, you are. On the world of Destati, your life is merely beginning." The girl waved again, and the globe changed into that of a different planet. It was pastel blue swirled with lavender, and a ring of rainbow colors framed it.

"Destati?" The ex-Mew Mew echoed.

"Destati is a parallel world. A team of four Mew Mews exist there, fighting off the Teki." The angelic being waved again. The bright light turned into an image of four girls - a spunky-looking redhead with pink eyes, a black-haired girl with stormy grey eyes, a timid purple-haired girl with lilac eyes, and an apparently vain girl with navy hair and lapis blue eyes. Then the image switched to a group of horrid red-eyed miniature dragons with blood-dripping teeth.

"I don't get what I have to do with this." The pink-eyed girl mumbled.

The blue-haired girl smiled. She waved again and the light went back to being just that - a light. "You will be given your powers back. You are to join these Mew Mews and lead them to save Destati. By the way, Ichigo, my name is Nazo."

"How'd you know my NAAAAAAAAA-"

The ground had opened up and Ichigo was falling, falling, falling.

***

Ichigo's eyes snapped open. Had it been a dream? She sat up, eyes closed and holding her head. Crickets chirped and the stars glittered like diamonds. It obviously hadn't been, unless she had fallen out the window. That didn't seem likely, because that would've killed her. Ichigo touched the back of her head. It wasn't wet or warm anymore. Another thing she noticed was that she was still twelve, and she was still wearing the furisode kimono.

Sighing, Ichigo observed her suroundings. Lush grass coated the hilly land. A forest gathered in the distance, a ridiculously tall tree towering over the rest in the heart of it. The sillhouettes of village houses and a palace stood against the night sky in the distance. Then she looked up and the cat-girl's mouth dropped open in awe. An arch towered in the sky above the entire place, looking to be miles upon miles thick, seeming to glow every color Ichigo could think of, and some that were so beautiful she couldn't even name them.

"It's official." She murmured. "This is Destati. That's the ring." Ichigo paused. "Hm. Nazo told me that I have my powers back. I wonder if it's true." Shrugging, the cat-girl decided to try it out. "Strawberry Mew Mew Metamorphosis!"

There was a flash of light. Ichigo twirled gymnastically in mid-air as ribbons of light twirled around her and solidified into clothing. There was the ring of a bell, and Ichigo found herself seated on the grass, clothed in her battle costume. Giggling, Ichigo twitched her cat ears and summoned her weapon. Using the distant stars for pretend target practice, the Mew Mew made sure that her aim was still good.

Sighing in bliss, the leader of Tokyo Mew Mew laid down on the soft grass. "I never realized how much I missed my powers. They've practically become a part of me!"

Her body tensed at a sound reminiscent of a tiger growling, but with a sound almost like the noise of flames crackling in the fireplace in there somewhere. Not daring to move, Ichigo just stared up at the sky. The sound of feet crunching on grass told her that whatever-it-was had come very close. A smell like hot ash, still aglow, assailed her nostrils.

Slowly, very slowly, the Mew Mew turned her head to look at the creature and suppressed a scream. It was one of those Teki that Nazo had spoken of, and it looked even more frightening in real life. Its smooth scales glittered obsidian in the moonlight, its lustrous crimson eyes gleaming with bloodlust. Wisps of smoke curled from the Teki's nose, and its mouth was open, revealing the stained-red teeth and a thick, pointed black tongue.

The creature snorted and stretched its leathery wings, but remained in its raptor-like pose, standing on its storng hind legs with its clawed hands held up to its chest. The Teki leaned forward, as if waiting for the Earthen girl to move so it could pounce. Even though a cool breeze flowed through the hilly land, Ichigo found herself sweating from the heat. With every swelling of her chest that indicated that she was breathing, a white flame ignited in the back of the Teki's throat.

"What have we here?" A boy walked into the cat-girl's field of vision. He was about as tall as the Teki, and his black hair was messy and unbrushed. He wore a tattered white shirt, along with baggy blue jeans that were faded and ripped in the knees. At first Ichigo seemed relieved to see an actual human being, then locked stares with him and realized that he wasn't completely human - his eyes were scarlet and glowed, bat wings were folded along his spine, and a reptilian tail curled around his feet. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"My name is Ichigo Momomiya, as if that's any business of yours!" The Japanese girl snapped. The Teki let out a cry - a sound somewhere between an eagle's cry and a lion's roar - and started to pounce, but the half-Teki grabbed its tail. The small raptor-dragon's face landed just about an inch away from the Mew Mew's. Ichigo cringed from the sulfur smell that floated around her, stronger than ever.

The boy smirked, exposing a small fang. The flirtatious way the boy acted almost reminded Ichigo of Kish. "Name's Kayamu. I watch and take care of the Teki. This little guy isn't going to hurt you. Need help getting up?"

"I'm fine." Ichigo retorted, rising to her feet. The Teki snarled and clawed at the ground, but Kayamu held him down. She watched them for a moment, then decided to sneak away.

"Where d'ya think you're going, sweetheart?" Kayamu flashed in front of her with breath-taking speed, blocking her off. A scimitar materialized in his hands. "I'm an enemy of Awaken Mew Mew. Aren't you going to fight me?"

<i>Awaken Mew Mew?</i>

"You stay away from her, you bully! Ribbon Grapevine Beam!" The half-Teki was hit in the side with a blinding ray beam that lit up the area.

Ichigo looked over the see the black-haired girl with the grey eyes, holding a golden staff with a large, glittering opal mounted on the tip. The girl motioned towards the village and the cat-girl started running. She let out a scream as the Teki's piercing screech shattered the night calm, but the girl's beam knocked it away from Ichigo.

The new Mew Mew frowned and locked her stormy gaze on Kayamu. She was dressed in a black and brown dress, with black boots. A slick black tail, tipped with brown, wagged in impatience and her black ears, also tipped with brown, were plastered to her head. The half-Teki glared up at her, then spread his wings and took off with blinding speed. The Teki followed, keeping up with his pace.

The dog-girl watched Kayamu and his pet disappear into the night, then sighed and pivoted on her heel. It was back to the village for her.

***

Knock, knock.

"What's the password?"

"Aikotoba."

The door to the two-story stone house creaked open. The girl with navy hair up in a waist-length ponytail appeared in the doorway. Her pretty blue eyes went from Ichigo's companion and the cat-girl herself. The girl was wearing a sparkly blue halter top, an ice-washed miniskirt, and brown flip-flops. Putting her hand on her hip, the arrogant-looking girl turned to the black-haired girl. "Grapevine, who is this?"

Grapevine was back in her normal form and was wearing an untucked black blouse with faded khaki capris. She turned her intimidating eyes to the blue-haired girl. "Nazo said that the leader would be clad in a furisode kimono, Mikan." She looked at Ichigo, who was also in her normal form again, wearing the kimono.

"She could be any new girl who likes fancy kimonos," Mikan pointed out. The dog-girl just looked at her ally, an apathetic look on her features. Sighing, Mikan kicked the door open wider. "Come on in."

Ichigo walked inside, followed by the duo. Two other girls sat at a wooden picnic table positioned in the center of the room. Both of them turned. The purple-haired girl was wearing denim overalls with a plain lavender shirt underneath and bare feet, and the red-haired girl was clad in an unzipped black hooded sweatshirt with a red T-shirt underneath, accompanied with excessively baggy dyed black jeans that hid her footwear.

"Who's that?" The purple-haired girl asked softly. The redhead nodded to indicate that she, too, was curious.

"I'd like you to meet Ichigo." Grapevine announced, shoving the cat-girl forward. "I have faith that she is our leader. After all, I saw her in a completely different outfit, complete with cat ears and tail, as she ran towards the village. There's no way she could've changed that fast without being a Mew Mew."

Mikan scrunched up her nose, emphasizing her freckles. "How do we believe you, after that lie you told us about Kaya-"

"You just DO!" Grapevine interrupted. Mikan shut up, but retained the disbelieving, vain look.

The red-haired girl stood up and walked over to Ichigo, stretching out her hand and shoving her remaining one in her pocket. "I'm Avocado. That's Grapevine, that's Meringue, and that's Mikan. Don't mind her, she's just been cranky since that recent 'incident' ." Avocado offered a friendly smile. Ichigo smiled back and shook the girl's hand. She felt comfortable, albeit a little confused.

"Come on over, I don't bite." The timid-looking girl, Meringue, patted the seat next to her. Ichigo gratefully sat down, since her legs were tired from the previous event. Meringue gave her a bashful smile and looked up at Grapevine. "Do you really think she's the one?"

"Of course I do," Grapevine insisted. "Nazo said that our new leader would be coming eventually. Nazo always sticks to her word, doesn't she?"

"Leader..." Avocado mumbled.

"I miss Kudamono." Meringue whimpered.

Ichigo looked confused. Mikan sighed. "I guess we should tell you." She cleared her throat. "Earlier this week, we still had a leader. Her name was Kudamono. She was the prettiest little thing you could ever imagine, if not a bit giddy. She was my best friend. We all miss her, though." Mikan's voice broke.

Avocado decided to continue. "Grapevine announced that she had found a new ally, and his name was Kayamu. But when we met him, we found out that he was half-Teki. Kayamu had been talking to Grapevine from the shadows, so there was no possible way she could know this." The redhead shot an accusatory glance at Mikan before continuing. "He sicced a pack of Teki on us. All of us were severely injured, but Kudamono had taken the worst. We did everything we could, but she died the following day."

"O-oh... I'm so sorry..." Ichigo murmured. An uncomfortable, pregnant silence reigned for a long time after that. Mikan, looking broken and upset, slammed the door and vanished outside. Ichigo's eyes widened. She had 'died' earlier that week...

"Anyway," Meringue remarked, breaking the silence, much to everyone's relief. "What's done is done. Let's move on. Ichigo is our new leader, according to Nazo's word."

The cat-girl felt slightly uncomfortable. She couldn't help but feel responsible for Kudamono's death. Meringue got up and walked out the door, most likely to console Mikan. Grapevine spoke. "That reminds me. We should go to Nazo's place just to make sure that Ichigo is the one."

Avocado nodded in agreement. She grabbed Ichigo's arm. "C'mon, Ichi, let's go meet Nazo!"

<i>Nazo...</i> Wasn't Nazo the angel girl? Ichigo decided that it was good to go and see her again. After all, she still had a few questions to ask.

***

Ichigo was amazed. Nazo's temple was a gigantic one-story building in the style of a Japanese palace with east and west wings. Two trays on both sides of the doors held burning incense. Fireflies blinked, crickets sang a lulling melody, and glowing nightflowers sparkled. The Mew Mew walked through the door, each taking off their footwear before stepping up.

The cat-girl was amazed at the inside, too. It resembled a dojo, but magnificent, detailed tapestries were hung on the walls, save for the wall opposite the entrance. On that wall, large posters of golden kanji were hung. The familiar form of Nazo holding her light sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the kanji-clad wall.

The angel-girl looked up, her eyes filled with wisdom. "Ah, Ichigo, we meet again. Greetings Avocado, Meringue, Mikan, Grapevine. Come, have a seat."

The team obeyed. Nazo waved her hands around her light and bowls of ramen appeared in front of everyone. "Go ahead, you must be famished. Especially you, Ichigo, after that journey from Earth to Destati."

"So it IS her," Avocado remarked. Mikan looked frustrated.

"After you eat, the four of you are free to explore. Ichigo, you're staying with me." Nazo announced quietly. The four of them finished eating their ramen in silence, until Avocado finished the noodles first and got up to leave. Fairly soon, each of them had gone off to explore.

The pink Mew Mew just sat there for a moment. Incense was burning on both sides of Nazo, and the fragrance was flowing throughout the room. Ichigo felt very uncomfortable.

"It's about Kudamono, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

The pink-haired girl looked up. Nazo was looking at her with empty eyes, seeming to be deep in thought. "You look a lot like her, you know."

"I do?" Ichigo stammered. The angel-girl nodded solemnly. The cat-girl bowed her head. "You're right. I do have a question about Kudamono. The others siad that she died earlier this week. Does that have anything to do with my death?"

"Indeed it does." Nazo gave Ichigo a wistful smile. "Back on Earth, the Teki are starting to find ways through." She waved, and the light changed to an image of Teki hopping through vortexes. "Your friends have been changed back into twelve-year-olds, and since they went back in time to before the alien incident, Berii no longer has her powers." The image changed to that of her four friends in their Mew Mew forms as twelve-year-olds. "Since they don't have a leader, both of your deaths were timed perfectly so that you could lead Awaken Mew Mew and Kudamono could go to Earth and lead Tokyo Mew Mew."

"So my friends are back there, fighting for their lives again?" Ichigo inquired, quite shocked. Nazo nodded and got up. She motioned for the cat-girl to follow. They entered the east wing. The tapestries continued along the walls.

"These tapestries are of those who have been killed by the Teki. As you can see, there are many." Nazo explained. Ichigo jumped, startled, when three more tapestries magically appeared. The angel-girl bowed her head, then gently touched Ichigo's arm. "Come."

They walked through the labyrinthine hallways. Flowers were sometimes underneath the tapestries. Ichigo examined the victims. Young and old, male and female, strong and weak, aristocrats and peasants - at least one of each type of person had been killed. There were even some that were obviously not human, and that Ichigo expected only to see in storybooks. Nymphs, elves, faeries, pegasi, unicorns, gryphons, phoenixes, dragons, the whole shebang.

"We're here." Nazo announced. The cat-girl looked at the tapestry she was standing in front of.

Ichigo felt like she was looking into a discolored mirror. The person looked exactly like her, only her hair was silver and her eyes were white, as was her battle costume. She was wearing silver boots and gloves, and white cat ears and a cat tail were little add-ons.

"That's her, isn't it?" The Mew Mew looked at Nazo. The enigmatic girl nodded, but her gaze was riveted to Kudamono's picture.

The angel girl began walking back. "Sometimes, in order to succeed, sacrifices must be made."

Ichigo stayed behind and looked at Kudamono for a moment longer, then turned and followed Nazo.