"RIBBON STRAWBERRY CHECK, HEALING!"

Everything around Ichigo was hot, loud and bright. She felt her body being thrown back by the shockwave of the powerful energy blast. For a few electric moments, she couldn't see anything but white light as she flew backwards through the air. But as the light began to fade, she realized she was falling again.

Ichigo hardly had time to scream before she felt a hand grasp hers. Quiche pulled her out of the air and held her against him. Ichigo gasped and flung her arms around his neck, her chin on his shoulder. She wrapped her legs around his waist. They were both breathing heavily, and Quiche's skin was slick with sweat as he held her against him. Ichigo screwed her eyes shut for a few seconds as the ringing in her ears subsided. She felt like she might be sick.

"...did it work?" she breathed. It didn't hurt to talk anymore. The power of the mews must have healed her lungs.

Quiche squeezed her tighter. He let out a long breath. "See for yourself, kitten."

Ichigo loosened her grip on Quiche's shoulders and pulled away. She gasped when she saw what was happening around them.

A wave of pinkish white light was emanating from the tall cherry tree like a shockwave. The poisonous fungi were shrinking and wilting in its wake. The grass was returning to a lush green again. The air around them already felt cleaner, and the horrible stench was fading from the air.

All around them, Ichigo watched as cherry blossoms blew in the breeze. The trees were shedding their flowers in the wake of the blast – just like they had years ago, when Ichigo had last used Strawberry Check Healing on a park not unlike this one. The delicate pink and white flowers swirled and danced around Ichigo like a beautiful storm. It was tragically, breathtakingly beautiful. Ichigo sighed in relief and reached out one hand to feel the petals slip between her gloved fingers. They'll grow back … next year.

"Amazing," Quiche murmured. Ichigo's attention snapped back to Quiche. He had one arm supporting her under her legs, and one arm on her back. He was watching the land heal itself, his gaze distant. "Your power is incredible."

"It's not just me," Ichigo said. She smiled and glanced down at her teammates on the ground far below them. Pudding was jumping up and down and waving. Tart stood next to her, arms crossed. Mint and Zakuro were pointing up in their direction, arms around each others' waists. Lettuce and Pie stood side-by-side – Ichigo could see they were holding hands. Berry was just on the outskirts of the park, motioning for Ryou and Masaya to join them. Her brave, wonderful team of heroes. Her best friends and her favorite people in the world.

"... it's all of us," Ichigo finished.

"Hm," Quiche hummed thoughtfully. Ichigo caught his eye as he turned his attention back to her. The corner of his mouth turned up. "Give yourself some credit, kitten. What you just did was extraordinary. You're a force of nature." He paused, nodding to the gathering team of mews below them, "I'm sure your friends would agree."

A force of nature.

Ichigo saw they were dropping lower, growing closer to the ground to reunite with the rest of the team. "Quiche, I–" she started hesitantly, watching the ground grow closer. She caught his eye just as they reached the tops of the trees. Ichigo knew her friends would soon be around them again, but she felt the tug in her chest of something needing to be said. Quiche looked at her curiously, his golden eyes swirling with warmth, curiosity.

"...thank you," she breathed, finally. Quiche lowered her to the ground, where she slipped out of his grasp and finally felt the cobblestone beneath her boots. She found her hand lingering in his as she pulled away. She looked up at him again and drew a long breath. The way he looked at her made her feel like the most beautiful thing in the world.

"For you, anything," Quiche murmured. He tilted his head to one side and smirked.

Ichigo exhaled slowly. The night of their last kiss drifted through her head, and she realized she felt strangely warm.

"Ichigo! It worked!"

Mint's excited voice tore through Ichigo's ears. She let her hand drop from Quiche's and turned to see her teammates running to greet her. Her thoughts were quickly overtaken with pure joy at seeing the mews. Ichigo grinned and welcomed her friends into her open arms.

"We did it!" Ichigo squealed excitedly. The mews all crushed her in a group hug, laughing.

"That was so cool!" Pudding yelled excitedly. "It was like a pretty explosion!"

"Just in time, too!" Lettuce added. "That chimera was really powerful."

Ichigo nodded. "I couldn't have done it without all of you! Thank you for lending me your power!"

"We're all glad to help, Ichigo," Mint replied. She smiled and glanced up at Zakuro briefly. "Tokyo Mew Mew is nothing without its leader." Zakuro nodded in wordless agreement.

Ichigo smiled warmly and giggled. Berry wormed her way into the group, between Mint and Lettuce. "Hey, I found the boys!" she announced. No sooner had she said it, Masaya pushed past Berry and rushed to embrace Ichigo in a hug. Ichigo gingerly wrapped her arms around him as he squeezed her tight. The mews took a few steps back to give them space.

"Ichigo, I was so worried," Masaya murmured into Ichigo's hair. Ichigo felt his arms trembling as he held her. "I'm so glad you're safe now."

Ichigo propped her chin up on Masaya's shoulder and rubbed his back with one hand. She could see over his shoulder that her friends were only half turned away, most still watching their interaction curiously. Mint raised one eyebrow at Ichigo as she caught her eye.

"We did it, Masaya," Ichigo said happily, tearing away from her fiancé. She held his hands in hers and smiled up at him. But this time, he wasn't smiling back. His eyes were devoid of their usual warmth. Ichigo's smile fell slightly.

"Ichigo, do you know how scared I was? I saw you fall from the sky and I thought you were going to …"

Masaya's voice trailed off. Ichigo saw him clench his jaw. His eyes flicked briefly to something over Ichigo's shoulder. Ichigo turned her head slightly. She could see that Quiche, Pie and Tart were all standing a few steps behind her.

Ichigo refocused her attention to Masaya and thought carefully about what to say. He must have seen everything in the air – Quiche pulling her out of the fungi, him bringing her to the mews, her massive attack.

"It's all okay now," Ichigo said reassuringly. She searched Masaya's eyes for any semblance of warmth. "I'm fine now, thanks to my friends."

Masaya nodded and let out a short, forceful breath. "I'm glad," he said. "And hopefully this will be the last time I ever see you with that pink hair, and that costume. Hopefully it's the last time you'll need to fight. I don't ever want to see you in danger again."

Masaya reached up to run his fingers through her hair, but Ichigo felt like she had just been slapped in his face. What? she thought. Does he really think that? Does he really want me to never be a mew again?

"Alright, time to eat some more cake!" came Pudding's voice over the chatter amongst the team. Ichigo broke her focus briefly to notice the rest of her teammates powering down to their normal costumes and beginning to walk back towards the entrance of the park. She glanced over as Lettuce waved at her shyly, still holding Pie's hand. Mint and Zakuro were giggling about something as they walked arm-in-arm. Quiche was the last to leave, walking backwards with his hands behind his head and looking at Ichigo with one raised eyebrow — as if to ask a question. He turned away, and suddenly Ichigo was looking at the backs of all of the people she would soon leave behind in Tokyo, walking away from her. Suddenly, it was just her and Masaya left.

Ichigo's eyes snapped to her fiancé.

"Masaya, I — we need to talk."


As soon as Ichigo said those words, Masaya's eyes suddenly grew panicked again. He shifted his weight from one hip to the other and tightened his grip on her hands.

"I — sure, Ichigo," he murmured cautiously. "What do you want to talk about?"

Ichigo let out a long sigh and looked down at her gloved hands in his. She could have powered down from being Mew Ichigo already, but she felt stronger, more confident with the wildcat DNA still coursing through her veins. She searched her thoughts for what to say.

"I'm … I understand you wanting me to be safe," she started hesitantly, "but I … but Mew Ichigo is part of who I am. Being the protector of this planet is part of who I am. I thought … I thought you felt the same."

Masaya opened and closed his mouth. He was struggling with what to say. "I … of course," he started. "Of course I'm proud of everything you've done to protect Earth. But Ichigo, I … I thought that was all behind us. I was just happy that after all of this trouble with the chimeras, you won't have to ever put yourself in danger again."

Ichigo clenched her jaw. She fixed Masaya with a blank expression, her mind feeling like it had been thrown into a tailspin. "Masaya, I'll always be Mew Ichigo," she said quietly. "I'll always be a protector of Earth. That's never going to change."

Masaya let out a long breath. Ichigo noticed he was fidgeting with her left hand, feeling for the grasp of a ring that wasn't there.

"I understand that," he murmured. "But I'm glad that after this, there will be no more chimeras, right? No real reason for you to have to fight. And that's what I'm happy about. It's what I've been hoping for ever since we defeated Deep Blue. I'm excited for us to just be … I don't know … normal."

"Masaya..." Ichigo said quietly. The vision of the apartment in London was growing distorted in her mind. The picture blurry, the feelings of warmth fading.

How could she ever think of herself as "normal"? Was that what Masaya really wanted? Standing in front of him with the DNA of the Iriomote wildcat flowing though her, Ichigo never felt more like herself. Being a protector of the Earth was part of her identity. It was her pride and joy. But she also understood how Masaya would want nothing to do with the battles and the fighting – after all, it wasn't that long ago that Deep Blue had overtaken his mind and nearly killed him.

As much as it pained Ichigo to admit, this latest realization fit neatly into a hypothesis she had been subconsciously nurturing in the back of her mind for a while. She had thought of it when Masaya was talking to all of the nonprofit directors at the gala. She had thought of it when she was talking to Masaya in the park, right before his proposal. She had even thought of it at dinner the night before.

They were going down different paths. And now, Ichigo knew his path was one she couldn't follow.

She knew she owed it to him to tell him here, now. As much as it would break her heart. As much as it would force her to tear out a part of her life she had grown so used to. She knew she had to do it.

Ichigo started by powering down to her normal appearance. As soon as the wildcat genes left her system, she felt more vulnerable. Smaller, meeker. But that didn't stop her. Ichigo forced herself to look up at her fiancé.

His sad, brown eyes almost made her change her mind. His soft gaze made it even harder for Ichigo to comprehend what she was about to do. But then she remembered the feeling of hugging her friends after their victory, the joy every time she defeated a chimera, and how the Tokyo skyline looked among the swirling storm of cherry blossoms from the healed trees. She loved her friends. She loved her city. She loved the Earth. And she loved Masaya – but she knew what she needed to do.

"Masaya, I don't think we're right for each other anymore. I think we need to go our separate ways."

Masaya locked his jaw. His eyes went blank for a few seconds, expressionless. Ichigo watched him for a reaction carefully, cautiously. Now that she had finally said the words, Ichigo knew in the deepest part of her heart that it was right.

"I … what?" he said quietly. He looked to be in shock. "You can't … Ichigo, are you … you can't be serious right now."

Ichigo swallowed the lump in her throat and shook her head. Her voice was breathy, weak as she spoke, "No, Masaya, I am. I wasn't sure before, but I'm sure now. I had to tell you before you left for London."

Masaya stared at her wordlessly, his expression distant. Ichigo felt the compulsion to keep talking; to explain herself. She swallowed again and kept going, her voice cracking as she spoke. "The past two weeks have been a rollercoaster, and I think, after everything, I realized … I have a lot of growing up to do. A lot I still have to do here in Tokyo. A lot I still want to do with my friends. I can't leave Tokyo, Masaya. I just can't. I'm sorry."

Ichigo felt tears welling up behind her eyes. She sighed and tried to force them back. Masaya drew a breath and finally opened his mouth to speak. His words stumbled from his lips clumsily, quietly. "Ichigo … you know I wouldn't force you to do anything. You can stay in Tokyo if you want. If that's the reason you want to break up … you can stay here. Of course."

"No, Masaya, that won't fix it," Ichigo replied quickly, her voice louder, more confident. The first tear slipped from the corner of her eye. She palmed it away quickly. "I know you'd never be able to go after your dreams here in Tokyo. And I'd never be happy living abroad. But it's not just the distance … Masaya, we're just … different people now."

Ichigo looked up at him sadly. She searched for some hint of understanding, but found none. He looked confused as ever.

"But Ichigo, we were fine up until now. We just got engaged less than a week ago," Masaya said weakly.

"I know," Ichigo replied. "It's been in the back of my mind for the past two weeks, but … I didn't really realize what I wanted until today. So much has happened in just fourteen days. I just didn't have time."

Masaya's eyes began to fill with something else besides their blank sort of sadness. Ichigo saw panic beginning to set in. Masaya gripped her hands tighter in his. He fidgeted with the joints of her fingers, rolling them in his thumbs as his eyes darted between hers.

"Ichigo, I can't imagine a life without you," he said, his voice growing hoarse. "I'll do anything for us to be together. I'll quit the conservation program, move back to Tokyo … anything. You can't do this."

"But that's the problem, Masaya!" Ichigo exclaimed. More tears escaped from the corners of her eyes. She didn't bother wiping them away this time. "That's not what you really want! You've dreamt of having this international career, of helping the planet through science, of being a part of this super competitive academic world I can't see myself in.

"I just want to, I don't know, spend time with my friends, get to know who I am a little more, grow up a lot! I want to do all of that here, in Tokyo, but I know you're already past that part of your life. You're already grown up. You know what you want, and what you want for yourself isn't in Tokyo.

"We're going down two different paths, Masaya, and I don't think I can follow you down yours. And I know you'd never really, truly be happy going down mine."

Masaya was quiet. The panic left his eyes, replaced by a deep, deep sorrow that broke Ichigo's heart a thousand times over. He let go of one of Ichigo's hands and quickly wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. Ichigo realized she had never seen him cry. She felt hot, wet tears falling down her face freely, her throat in a knot.

With one hand free, Ichigo slipped her other hand out of Masaya's and gently, slowly pulled the engagement ring off of her finger. She turned it so that it sparkled in the light of the overcast spring day. So beautiful, so perfect, and not at all her.

She extended the ring to Masaya and looked up at him. He looked from Ichigo to the ring, then met her eyes again. Shaking his head, he choked back a sob and took it from her.

"I'm so sorry," Ichigo murmured. She reached out and embraced Masaya in a warm, tight hug. She felt his arms wrap around her slowly, hesitantly. She could feel his body shaking as he cried silently against her. His tears landed on her back and began to wet her shirt.

Ichigo felt like her heart was breaking in a million pieces. The sadness twisted her stomach and made her feel sick. She thought of all they had been through together, everything they had overcome as teenagers and all of the memories they had shared together. All of the dates, the late night phone calls, the happy times and the sad ones. A lot of their relationship had been long-distance, but Ichigo felt like they had been together for an eternity. After all, the last time she was single was when she was fourteen years old. They had grown up together – and been through so much with Tokyo Mew Mew, defeating Deep Blue and saving the planet.

"You know I'll always love you," Ichigo murmured into Masaya's chest. It was the truth. She knew that a small part of her heart would always belong to Masaya Aoyama.

"I'll always love you," he replied softly, his voice shaking. Ichigo sighed into his chest. He was wearing the cologne again – the one he wore when he proposed. Ichigo stepped back from him slowly, gently.

Masaya wiped his eyes with the back of his wrist and took a deep, shaking breath. He finally met Ichigo's eyes again, and words quickly tumbled from his lips: "Tell me this has nothing to do with Quiche."

Ichigo stiffened.

She knew the look on her face had given her away, because Masaya clenched his jaw, eyes going wider. He broke away from Ichigo and turned to the side. He crossed his arms in front of him and shook his head.

"You're kidding," Masaya murmured in disbelief.

"Masaya, no," Ichigo quickly exclaimed, stepping around to face him again, "it's not like that. You have to believe me when I say this has everything to do with figuring out myself, not getting to know someone else. I mean it. Please. Trust me."

Masaya glanced over at her with an angry, hurt look, entirely different from what his eyes held before. "So what? You're going to start dating him after all of this? Is that what this is about?"

Ichigo shook her head quickly. "No, Masaya! No," she insisted. "I just told you – I need to have time to grow up. To learn more about myself. I need time. I'm not going to just start dating someone else. Of course not."

"So I'm supposed to believe this has nothing to do with him?" Masaya snapped back. "I saw the look on your face just now, Momomiya. He's been all over you for the past two weeks. I'm not dumb, and you can't just tell me what I want to hear."

Ichigo clenched her jaw – part panicked at what to say, part frustrated with Masaya's suddenly hostile tone. She had to remind herself that he was going through shock. He was grieving. And Ichigo had to choose her words carefully. Would it bring her peace to be completely transparent with Masaya? Or should she keep things to herself? She knew she had to tell him something. She started hesitantly, carefully.

"It's not … it's not nothing, Masaya, but Quiche isn't why we need to go our separate ways," Ichigo murmured. "Making him a target isn't going to do you any good, because he's not why I'm telling you all of this now. But yes, I'd be lying if I didn't say that there isn't … I don't know ... a connection there. But I'm not sure what to do about it right now, and I don't know if anything would ever come from it."

Ichigo let out a deep breath and searched Masaya's eyes for a reaction. She felt her response was the best she could muster in the moment – not a retelling of everything that had happened over the past few days, but not a lie either. Masaya's eyes seemed to gloss over as he returned her stare. He looked like he was biting back words; his lips pursed, posture rigid.

After a tense few seconds of silence, he finally let out a sigh and averted his eyes. "Okay, Momomiya, I believe you," he muttered. Ichigo saw him swallow hard before his attention turned back to her. "I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. This is just … a lot."

Ichigo nodded. "I know," she murmured. She noticed that he had reverted back to using her last name again.

She sighed. "We should … we should probably head back."

Masaya nodded. "Yeah," he agreed half-heartedly. He took one of Ichigo's hands in his again. She glanced down at it briefly before meeting his eyes. He drew a deep breath. "You know … you know you can always change your mind. I'll be here."

Ichigo wasn't expecting that. One part of her teenage brain screamed at her that this was all one big mistake, that she was abandoning the greatest love she had ever known. But – she reminded herself – it was the only love she had ever known.

Ichigo smiled sadly. She curled her fingers between Masaya's, holding his hand one last time. "Don't wait for me."


The walk back to the café was silent except for a few murmured words asking about Masaya's plans when he got back to England. The air around them felt too heavy for conversation. It took everything in Ichigo not to burst into tears with every step. Masaya squeezed her hand occasionally as they walked, as if to reassure her, comfort her.

When they finally arrived at the doors of the café, Ichigo stared up at the red paint and let out a long, shuddering sigh. She glanced over at Masaya and saw he was staring blankly ahead at the doors, seemingly deep in thought.

"We should … we should just be honest with everyone," Ichigo said quietly. Masaya nodded, keeping his gaze straight ahead.

"Yeah," he agreed. He looked over at Ichigo with a solemn expression on his face. "Ready?"

Ichigo thought about how they had crossed the threshold of the doors of the café together under much different circumstances not two hours ago. She swallowed the knot in her throat and nodded. Then, she turned to Masaya and grabbed his other hand in hers. She pulled him lightly towards her and embraced him in a full-body hug.

Masaya wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the crook of her neck. Ichigo felt her throat tightening again, her eyes growing wet. She would always love Masaya Aoyama. Maybe not as her one and only, and maybe not as her boyfriend, fiancé or husband. But some part of her would always belong to him.

She released him after a few precious seconds and let out a sigh. She smiled up at him weakly. "Ok, ready."

Ichigo pushed open one of the large red doors, and was greeted with smiles and excitement, her friends already back into the revel of the party. But the loud chatter of conversation quieted when one by one, Ichigo's friends began to realize something was wrong. Ichigo smiled weakly and crossed her arms over herself, but she knew her appearance was anything but cheerful.

"Ichigo, what's wrong?" Mint asked, coming to her side quickly. Ichigo bit her lip and looked around at the expectant faces of the rest of the party-goers.

"We – Aoyama and I ... we agreed we're going to go our separate ways," Ichigo said finally. She swallowed the stubborn knot in her throat, feeling fresh tears threaten to spill from her eyes. Telling her friends made the whole thing feel more real. She couldn't take it back, now.

Mint's eyes widened, her jaw going slack. Ichigo heard the rest of her friends go silent, varying degrees of surprise on their faces. Mint embraced Ichigo in a full-body hug.

"Ichigo, I'm so sorry," she murmured into Ichigo's hair as she hugged her.

Slowly, each of the mews made their way over to Ichigo. They offered words of comfort and took turns embracing Ichigo in long, warm hugs. It took everything in Ichigo not to start crying again. Sad tears in sharing the news, but happy tears with how she knew she could always rely on her friends for support. No one asked questions – they only had words of reassurance.

Even Zakuro, who was normally the most aloof in the group, offered Ichigo a short, warm hug and a small reassurance Ichigo didn't know she needed. "Promise you'll take time to rest," Zakuro told her softly, a solemn look in her sharp blue eyes. "You'd be doing yourself a disservice if you don't take time to love yourself for a little while."

Ichigo nodded and smiled up at Zakuro, "I promise."

Ichigo glanced over at Masaya and saw he was having a hushed conversation with Tasuku. Berry's boyfriend had a reassuring hand on Masaya's shoulder as they spoke. Ichigo was grateful that Masaya had the support by his side.

She followed Masaya's gaze as the conversation with Tasuku appeared to come to a close. Masaya broke away from the younger boy; Ichigo watched him cross to the other side of the dining room. A few of the other party-goers were watching him as well.

Ichigo froze when she realized Quiche and Tart were standing near the back of the café, next to the entrance to the back hall. Quiche was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, glowering at Masaya with a look that could melt steel. Masaya stopped to one side of him, glaring back.

"Let's talk. Privately," Masaya said quietly, just loud enough that Ichigo could hear.

Quiche hesitated, eyes narrowing. He straightened off of the wall and lifted his chin. He glanced over at Ichigo, finding her eyes from across the room, before returning Masaya's glare once more.

Ichigo held her breath. She wondered what was going through Quiche's head. Wondered what he thought she had told Masaya during the breakup. She said a silent prayer that he would keep his mouth shut about the details of the past two days.

"Fine," Quiche finally muttered, grudgingly. He followed Masaya down the back hallway of the café and out the heavy door. As soon as Ichigo heard the metal door click shut, she realized everyone in the room had taken notice of the conversation between the two boys. As soon as the door closed, everyone's head swiveled to look at Ichigo.

This looked bad. Really, really bad.

Ichigo straightened her back and bit her lip. It was clear from everyone's faces that they were all thinking the same thing, having watched the tense interaction between Masaya and Quiche. Right after their breakup. Right after Quiche's act of heroism during the huge battle. Ichigo grimaced and glanced between her friends' disbelieving looks.

Oh no.


(A.N./

Hey, hi - you probably all hate me after that cliffhanger, haha.

This chapter was /so/ critical to get as close to perfect as possible, so I hope you liked how it turned out. Please let me know your thoughts! We have ONE NORMAL CHAPTER left, and then it's the epilogue! Get hyped!

As always, thank you so much for reading!~)