[America Mew Mew] Episode Thirty Eight

[sunrises]

What the heck, people. America Mew Mew is finally finished. It took me about three years, but it's finally and completely done! If there's any loose threads you want me to finish up (because I know I didn't really finish the whole Jishou+Ryou thing), just let me know and I'll add that section into the chapter, okay? ♥

I may get around to doing Episodes 13 and 14, but this series in terms of chronology is finally and officially over. Congratulations to me! \o/

Title: Episode Thirty Eight: Finally! The Loose Ends Are Tied
Fandom: Tokyo Mew Mew [but so very, very AU]
Summary: Cartel has been subdued... so how do we convince him to not kill Luciano? By showing him the truth, that's what.
Claimer: Let's face it, this is the final chapter. If you don't know what isn't mine and what is by now, it's pretty much a lost cause.

What was going on? Ryou and Cartellate were in the middle of a staring match, but the whole mansion was rebuilding itself. Mew Mimi gasped as she stared around her; the collapsed buildings were recreating themselves from the ground up. And were those children she could see playing outside? The rain even stopped. It was becoming a beautiful sunny day.

Heck, the birds were even chirping! Roy ran to Ryou and immediately enveloped his friend from behind. "Come on, come on..." Roy muttered, ignoring the bursts of power that disappeared from his body as they crept slowly into his best friend.

Fuyuki stared up at the sky. Watching two blurs, yellow and green, speed past them, he murmured, "Huh. They're still going at it?"

Mew Mimi followed his gaze, but she squinted upon seeing the blurs zoom towards the opposite end of town. "I don't get it, Fuu. What's going on?"

"Ryou's recreating the past," Fuyuki simply explained, now focusing his attention on Ryou and Roy. Ryou never wavered, staring at Cartel as flowers bloomed again and the sun and moon rotated backwards many, many times. The clouds rolled back... and everything was reborn.

She could still hear the children playing outside. Their figures became more apparent as the building solidified itself and created its own metallic walls, lab equipment, and marble tiles.

Mew Lettuce murmured, "It is beautiful." She hesitantly walked towards a series of ocean paintings. She reached to touch the frame... and her hand slipped right through. Gasping, she looked at her hand, and then at the painting before her.

"It's an illusion," Shuugo explained as he and Fuyuki sat beside Ryou. "By manipulating time, he can show us what life was like in the past. Hopefully... this will make Cartellate understand why Alina is no longer with us."

Fuyuki nodded, "The loose ends are finally being tied up."

The two boys then linked hands as they circled their relative and mentor. Purple runes appeared at their feet as they chanted mystical words in ancient Latin. Mew Mimi watched in horror as Shuu's entire body started to disappear. Purple energy swirled around Ryou, and before Mew Mimi knew it? Her best friend - her little red fox - had turned into nothing. All that was left of Shuugo Shirogane was the crown necklace falling to the floor.

She didn't know why she was running. Mew Mimi seized the crown necklace. Ignoring the tears that were surely flowing down her face, she muttered, "Why, Shuugo? Why?"

Fuyuki didn't look so well either. He floated just above Ryou. Kissing his cousin gently on the forehead, Fuu's hands transformed into swirls of grey and blue energy. He then merged with the purple energy... and then? Fuyuki walked into his cousin's body.

Ryou's hands started to glow. Their surroundings pulsed with a greater, more vibrant energy than before. Mew Mimi then realized: their deaths weren't in vain, if they were even deaths. Both Shuugo and Fuyuki had sacrificed themselves to keep Cartel from killing everyone else.

"Luciano? Luciano Alesci! I swear that man..."

Luciano wasn't here, was he? Mew Mimi turned around to watch a white-haired woman walk through the front door of the Shirogane mansion (or was this the warehouse they'd just visited?). Her entire figure was like that of the aliens, and she shared their pointy ears. And yet? Something about her reminded Mew Mimi of Miles.

Briar's jaw dropped, "Th-that's... Her highness!"

A much younger Luciano walked past the group, ignoring them completely as he and the white-haired woman embraced. Smiling at her, Luciano commented, "Sorry I'm late. Jishou just had to make sure the research was accurate."

The wrinkles on his face weren't there yet, Mew Mimi realized. And then it hit her.

"Hey," Mew Mimi whispered to Mew Primrose. "Is that...?"

"I think so," Mew Primrose wiped her eyes. "That looks like Miles' real mom."

Briar groaned, "That's what I just said! Her highness... Alina..."

"Wait," Mew Mimi stared at the alien. "She's royalty?"

"Uh, yeah," Briar's palm met his face. "You didn't think we came all the way out here for some peasant, did you?"

Mew Mimi opened her mouth to answer, but the door to the stairwell opened. Everyone swerved to watch as Jishou Shirogane walked into the makeshift kitchen and grabbed some peanut butter and crackers from the nearby cabinet. "Oy, Luce. You and your wife going to get some dinner with us?"

"You sure Liz is fine with that?" Alina called back, holding her husband's hand as she dragged him back towards the kitchen. "I mean, I wouldn't want to be a bother."

"She'll be fine," Jishou reassured her, spreading the peanut butter on some crackers. "I'm just upset you haven't decided to spend more time with us. You know Miles and Shuugo've been getting along recently."

Luciano chuckled, "Jishou, they're only around 12 to 15 months. Who's to say they won't be archenemies in the future?"

"I am," Elizabeth Shirogane responded as she walked through a back door. "Miles and Shuugo are taking their nap, so please don't be too loud?"

Alina smiled, "But where's Ryou? I wanted to see him today."

"You know he and the Bancroft boy are very close," Liz replied, gently leaning to squeeze Alina's hand. "I asked Cassie if she wouldn't mind looking after the boys, and she agreed."

Mew Celsia blinked, "They seemed so happy. What happened?"

"This day was the last day in her diary," Roy explained, letting go of Ryou. Weakly walking over to the four mew mews, he seized a bottle of water from his wristwatch and gulped its contents. He immediately put the empty water bottle into his wristwatch again. Mew Lettuce immediately let Roy sleep on her shoulder.

He closed his eyes, then lazily opened one as he remarked, "Ryou thinks today's significant. Uncle Shou spoke highly of it - and this was also when Ryou, Shuugo, and Miles spent an incredible amount of time in my house. I wasn't aware of it until now, but... my family knew the Alescis."

Mew Celsia carefully watched Roy before she finally commented, "... You gave up your magic for Ryou too, didn't you?"

Roy slowly, deliberately nodded. "Yeah," He said. "I can't fight anymore. I'm... too tired to keep going on."

"But we need you," Mew Mimi protested amidst the idle chatter of the adults. "Roy, what're we going to do without our Mr. Exposition?"

"You'll have to learn to explain things to yourselves," Roy laughed. Coughing in-between sentences, he then added, "Shuugo and Fuyuki didn't die. We just sacrificed our physical bodies and our magic to keep this illusion going. When it's done... we'll come back. We promise."

With that, he closed his eyes and limply fell to the floor. Mew Celsia's eyes watered; she immediately knelt beside him and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Roy..."

Mew Mimi stared up at the ceiling. This illusion... would it really save their lives? It didn't seem like watching Alina and Luciano lead a happy life would change much of anything. Cartellate was more ticked off about her death and about her abandoning his home planet for "these mortals."

As if he could read her mind, Briar stuffed his hands into his pockets, "These humans have a pretty elaborate magic system going. This is a recreation of the past, right? But I don't know if it'll subdue Deep Evil over there."

Mew Primrose nodded in agreement, leaning to gently hold his arm. "But we've gotta believe in Mr. Ryou! Believe in the you that believes in him!"

"Heh," Briar chuckled. "You just might be right."

Keiichiro - a much younger one, without the long ponytail and traditional collared shirt - hurriedly ran towards the four adults. "Professors! I don't know why, but something's acting up with the parasites. It's like they came back to life!"

The other Keiichiro - Ryou's Keiichiro - buried his hands in his face. "This is... me? Ryou, what are you capable of?"

"Mr. Ryou's a wizard," Mew Primrose explained as she walked over to the older Keiichiro and patted him on the shoulder. "He can do anything."

"I wouldn't say anything," Mew Mimi shook her head, watching as the younger Keiichiro hurriedly motioned for Jishou and Luciano to follow him down the stairwell. Alina, however, pushed her way forward and floated down before the men could have a second word.

"Alina!" Luciano protested, following her without hesitation. Jishou too ran past everyone and headed down the stairs.

But despite their disappearance, everyone soon saw the three in the labratory again - almost as if the staircase had never existed. Jishou stared at the wiggling parasites roaming the labratory and playing with the random mirrors and microscopes.

"Oh god," Jishou whistled, running a hand through his hair as Luciano caught up to him. "But I thought they were just fossils?"

Alina gathered the parasites in her hands as she quickly dispensed them into nearby glass jars. Sealing them shut, the white-haired women apologetically bowed, "That might've been my fault. You see... these creatures come to life at my touch."

Luciano frowned, "How much about your planet are you hiding from us?"

"Ara?" Alina looked up, blinking at her husband. "But I've told you everything I could possibly think of... the name of my race, my status... even my real name."

Embracing her, Luciano shook his head. "Not that kind of information, Lina. I was thinking more along the lines of these parasites. I know you said they could merge with living organisms to create Chimera Anima, but I thought we had been studying fossils that you'd brought from your home planet."

"Not exactly?" Alina apologetically smiled, wrapping her arms around her husband's waist. "I knew you wanted to study specimens from my world, but these parasites aren't exactly alive or dead... I thought if I were around to watch them, it'd be okay."

"You lied to me," Luciano muttered. "Lina..."

"Mm," She cut him off with a gentle kiss. Letting go, she replied, "I'm sorry. But you and Mr. Shirogane were getting increasingly desperate since you two and Judy split from the Sacred Beast research... and you wanted to study different organisms, right?"

"Touche," Luciano chuckled.

Jishou rolled his eyes, "Hate to ruin the romantic moment, but you two do realize the parasites aren't going to be safe here?"

Briar cheered, "Thank soa. I would've interrupted them if he hadn't."

"Briar," Mew Mimi exasperatedly threw her arms towards the happy couple, "It's just an illusion. They can't hear you!"

Briar grumbled as he watched Alina embarrassingly let go of her husband. Turning to face Jishou, the woman smiled, "That's right. I'll take care of the parasites, so why don't you get the cars ready? I'll go and meet you once I'm done."

Jishou nodded, "Sure," as he headed towards the staircase. Turning back to Luciano, he motioned for the man to come, but Luciano didn't budge. Shrugging, Jishou ran up the stairs and disappeared. The parasites squirmed in their jars, but neither Alina nor Luciano payed much attention to the specimens as they circled each other.

"So what are we going to do about the parasites?" Luciano finally sighed, leaning against a table. "You know they're not safe in this lab."

Alina bit her lip, "I could always take them back to my ship..."

"That old abandoned thing? I'd rather eat a bucket of cockroaches."

"Really? I'll have to go grab them for you," Alina teased, now kneeling to meet a jar of parasites.

Luciano grimaced, "That wasn't funny."

Mew Mimi and Mew Primrose giggled.

"Don't Mr. and Mrs. Alesci remind you of Mimi and Miles?" Mew Primrose cheerfully commented, slowly raising Keiichiro's hands from his face. "Mr. Keii, cheer up! I'm sure it'll get better."

"It won't," Keiichiro desolately smiled. "Miss Wallace, I'm sorry to be so depressed, but you'll see why later."

Mew Primrose frowned, "Mr. Keii..."

Alina finally left the room, but not before kissing her husband on the cheek. As she floated away, Luciano started at the jars of parasites before him. Even though Alina had urged him, "Don't touch them! I promise I'll help you tomorrow!" - something about the parasites had intrigued them.

Luciano smiled as he held a jar with a single parasite in his hands, "So this is what a real parapara alien looks like..."

A dog barked and Luciano tripped over a nearby wire. The jar shattered as it flew across the room. Luciano wasn't hurt, as he was protected by the table he'd fallen under, but the parasite was now free. Luciano swore, staring at the parapara as it flew around the room.

The parapara seemed to wink at him as it floated around the room. Casually tripping over more parasites, it seemed to smirk as it created a giant army. They circled Luciano, almost as if to say, "Ha! This is what you get for studying us like ants under a magnifying glass!"

Luciano's eyes widened; he moaned, "This was definitely not my day!"

The paraparas then focused their attention on the nearby mirrors. Breathing on it, they created a small flame and threw it on the nearest stack of papers. The room started to burn - and Luciano seized the door as quickly as he could.

Disappearing upstairs, the scientist yelled, "Leave! Now! The parasites are all loose!"

No one else was in the vicinity. In fact, only Alina was waiting by the door. She stared past her husband and at the flames rising from before him. "What happened?" She questioned, glancing over her shoulder at him before she started to fly in the direction of the fire.

Luciano seized her arm. "No, don't."

"But your research," Alina protested. "What about that?"

Luciano stared, "You're more important than my research, Alina. You know that! Jishou and I can always rebuild the Mew Project. But we can't rebuild you."

"I'll be fine," Alina insisted. "Now go! I'll meet you at the restaurant!"

Luciano didn't have another chance to protest. Mew Mimi winced as she watched the poor scientist be thrown out of his own laboratory and into the nearest car door. "That's gotta hurt," The mew mew groaned. "Poor guy."

"Now you know how Miles feels," Mew Celsia chided. "Poor guy puts up with your violence so often it isn't even funny."

Mew Mimi's eyes watered, "Mew Celsia! That was totally uncalled for! Just because your boyfriend died--" She paused, putting her hands to her throat as she looked at Roy.

"Omigosh," She whispered. "Roy's really dead. He's really dead."

Her attention was diverted by the rising flames. Cartel gasped; immediately, he let go of Ryou's grasp and reached out for the woman walking into the fire. "Alina!" He cried. "Don't leave me!"

As if she were addressing him, Alina turned to face him. Gently caressing his cheek, she murmured, "I never abandoned you, Cartellate. You're my little brother. You know that. But being with my husband and my son is important to me too."

Mew Mimi stared, "B-but I thought she was an illusion---"

Cartel flinched, "Sis. Why'd you even come to fall in love with him?"

"He reminded me of you," Alina confessed, ignoring the rising flames now. "My baby brother, I'm so sorry. I should've told you about Luciano and Miles much sooner. It's just that I was afraid you'd reject me for them."

A sudden look flashed over Cartel's eyes. He glanced over at Ryou. "... This was her last diary entry."

Ryou nodded. "She was going to tell you everything the next day. But the fire happened and... she died trying to protect her family."

Taking a deep breath, Cartel reached for his sister again. And then? Nothing. His hand passed right through her. He started at his hand almost as if he'd seen a ghost.

"She's really dead?"

"Yes," Ryou solemnly stared at the ground. "She perished within the fire. The parasites ganged up on her because they hated her for abandoning them."

There were tears streaming down Cartel's face. He clenched his teeth as he balled his hands into fists. Cursing in a foreign language, he murmured, "Alina... I... I..."

It was weird, Mew Mimi realized. She'd never seen a grown man cry before.

Briar walked over to him solemnly and knelt before him. "Commander. What're we going to do about Earth now?"

For a long time, Cartel didn't speak. Tears continued streaming down his face as he closed his eyes. What was even weirder? His nose didn't become red; there was none of that sniffling nonsense with other people. Just... tears. And perhaps, considering it was Cartel, it suited him best.

"We're going home," Cartellate slowly responded, motioning for the boy to rise. "This idea... I had about avenging my sister's death... it was incredibly foolish of me."

Briar nodded. "You got the closure you wanted?"

"But so many people had to die," Mew Celsia pointed out. "How are you going to amend for all their deaths? For Panforte... for Sorrel---" She choked, well-aware of the tears streaming down her face. "For Shuugo and Fuyuki and Minoru... how are you going to bring them back to life?"

The yellow and green blurs Primrose and Fuyuki had seen before suddenly slowed to a stop in front of them. The recreated buildings disappeared as the Amber Templare and Chive walked before Mew Mimi, Mew Celsia, Mew Lettuce, and Mew Primrose.

Mew Celsia blinked, "Where were you?"

Cartel pressed his lips, "I thought I told you--"

"I do not listen to people who threaten to kill my family," The Templare mischievously smiled. "And I thought you wanted something to bring back the dead?"

He held out a large jar of a blue liquid. Handing it over to Mew Mimi, the Templare said, "I think you know what you need to do with this."

Noticing his glowing hands, Mew Mimi gratefully accepted it. "You were doing us a favor, weren't you?"

"We were collecting Mew Aqua," Chive gave the others a victory pose. "Sorry, but our task was sorta-kinda just as important as subduing Deep Evil."

"So you were the really fast squirrels!" Mew Primrose's eyes lit up.

The Amber Templare and Chive exchanged nervous glances. "Squirrels...?"

"Just ignore her," Briar blew his hair out of his face as he floated above them. "Half the time, she makes stupid comments anyway."

Mew Primrose pouted, "That wasn't very nice, Briar."

Mew Celsia found herself laughing for the first time in a very, very long time. Mew Lettuce gently consoled her by patting her friend on the shoulder. Mew Mimi held the jar in her hands, letting it rise above her.

She immediately knew her task. Summoning a pink and white baton from seemingly nowhere, she rose above the entire battlefield. Gently spinning in circles, she freely waved the baton as she cried, "Reborn! Aqua Drops!"

The entire city started to rain again. But instead of the pouring, drenching rain everyone had been used to? The tears shone like glistening stars. As they fell on the mew mews, Cartel, and the aliens, the teardrops brightened their skin.

Mew Celsia found her stitches from the glass wounds completely disappearing. Mew Primrose's bruises completely disappeared, and even Briar had a smile on his face as he looked up towards the spinning pink blur.

Across the city, she could see giant rocks rise and fall with the rain. A soothing melody Mew Mimi knew very well rose above the crowds and the smoke; even the familiar dark clouds couldn't keep that smile off her face.

"Argh... ow, ow..."

Mew Celsia's entire face lit up as she ran to meet the now-awakening Roy. Pressing her hand against his, Mew Celsia murmured, "Roy... you're okay..."

He smiled up at her, "Of course I'd be."

She couldn't help it any longer; Mew Celsia immediately embrace him, efficiently tackling the poor boy to the ground again. Chive snickered, "I am happy to not be him."

"You're just jealous," The Amber Templare teased again, winking in Chive's direction.

Chive ruffled the Templare's hair, "Whatever. You look like a field of wheat."

Ryou watched the falling Mew Aqua touch his skin. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and let himself float in mid-air. Swirling purple energy shone and dispersed; in mere seconds, Shuugo collapsed onto the floor as blue and grey energy pulsed throughout the entire battlefield. Fuyuki too found himself falling to the ground face-first.

Groaning, the two boys helped themselves up before they squeezed their relative's hand.

"We're home," Fuyuki and Shuu replied in unison.

Opening one eye lazily, Ryou smiled at them, "Welcome back."

"Don't forget about us!"

Everyone turned to face Minoru as he jumped from a giant rock crater. The rock gradually disappeared into the ground, but no one was more thrilled than Mew Celsia. She ran past Minoru and embraced Sorrel tenderly.

"Sorrel, don't scare me like that again!" Mew Celsia moaned, looking up into her best friend's eyes.

Sorrel smiled sheepishly, "I'm sorry." Looking to Panforte to help, she found her face turning a bright shade of red. Both Panforte and Sorrel avoided eye contact with each other immediately.

"Panforte," Briar cried, running to his teammate. "I'm so glad---" He stopped mid-sentence, realizing that all eyes were on him. Embarrassed, he held out his hand, "Well, whatever. Good to see you weren't really dead."

Mew Primrose giggled, "Awww, Briar's all red~"

Keiichiro too watched the Mew Aqua fall. He held his hand out to the sky and stared at the falling rain in amazement, "This is amazing."

Turning towards Ryou, Keiichiro then began, "Ryou, I---"

Ryou shook his head, bridging the gap between them. "No. I need to apologize. Keiichiro, you've done so much for my father... for me... for everyone. You got Shuu and Miles out of that fire safely, you've made sure Dad wasn't that much of a workaholic... and..."

He paused, staring down at the ground. "To be honest, I was jealous. You get to spend so much time with Dad."

Keiichiro didn't care if everyone was watching. He let Ryou hug him, and for once? Neither man felt the weird tension that had always surrounded them. Perhaps it was the Mew Aqua's influence, but Ryou seemed to no longer feel like fighting.

"It's not worth it," Ryou murmured. "I'm so sorry. Really. I am."

Laughing, Keiichiro gently ruffled Ryou's hair, "Don't worry about it. I'm... just glad that we can make up and hopefully be friends again?"

Ryou nodded, looking up at his former mentor. "Friends. That's a promise."

Above in the sky, Mew Mimi smiled in delight as she watched her beloved city and friends reunite. The Chimera Anima was no longer a threat to them, and the aliens were going to leave! Everything seemed so perfect... so blissful... so why was she feeling so sleepy?

Falling backwards, she closed her eyes and yawned. The Mew Aqua rod disappeared completely from her hands; she felt the wind quickly run through her hair. Everything was solved and everyone was happy, so her job was done, right?

"Mew Mimi!"

She could barely hear Miles (oh, wait, the Templare). Opening her eyes immediately, she felt his presence of his arms. She saw her face perfectly reflected in his deep yellow eyes, and well? She knew everything was going to be okay.

"Miles," She murmured, barely managing to keep herself awake as the two gently floated back to the ground. "We did it."

"Yes," He smiled back at her. "We did."

She then closed her eyes and fell to the side. Staring at her in alarm, Miles blinked, "Mimi? Mimi? Meems!"

"Relax," Ryou chided as he walked towards him. Helping the Templare set Mew Mimi down, Ryou knelt and pressed for a pulse. Smiling, he responded, "She's alive. I imagine being put through all this made her incredibly sleepy, though."

"Now that you mention it," Mew Celsia yawned. "I'm... kinda feeling sleepy myself."

"As am I," Mew Lettuce nodded.

Mew Celsia smiled mischievously as she stared at the people around her. Putting a hand on her hip, she beamed, "Hey. Why don't we have a giant sleepover? Everyone can come!"

"No thanks," The Templare shook his head as he walked towards Cartel. "My uncle and I have some unfinished business we need to take care of."

Chive, Panforte, and Briar exchanged glances before they too nodded in agreement.

"I want to stay," Chive winked at her. "But we need to prepare to leave."

"Already?" Mew Primrose pouted. "But it didn't feel like you were here that long!"

"Sorry," Briar shrugged helplessly. "What needs to be done needs to be done."

Panforte and Sorrel held hands for what seemed like the longest time before Panforte reluctantly let go; he too murmured, "I promised them. Maybe once we're done?"

"You have to promise," Sorrel insisted. "I'll hate you if you leave without saying good-bye."

"Promise," Panforte kissed her forehead lightly before he walked towards his comrades. "You still have my number, you know."

She waved, "Okay."

They split ways then: the aliens headed off in the direction of their base, while Ryou, Roy, Shuu, Fuu, Keiichiro, and the mew mews found themselves transported to Celsia's mansion for an incredibly long night of rest and relaxation. Unsurprisingly? No one resisted to the temptation of a warm bed and shower. And especially no one resisted the offer of Keiichiro's fresh-baked red velvet cake.

In all? It was a battle no one would forget, if only because it ended so bizarrely.

+

Long Island was always a beautiful place in the summertime. Families especially took advantage of the warm weather and spent time together in the parks nearby, whether it was by having a picnic or just sitting and watching the clouds go by.

"Hey, hey, Uncle Cartellate," Evelyn giggled, holding up a kite with her hands. "Come help me fly this kite."

Cartellate scratched his head, "Is this what kids do for fun nowadays?"

"Pretty much," Miles grinned, pulling his uncle up. "Come and help Evelyn. I promise it'll be worth your while!"

Stella and Luciano hung behind the three. Watching them with watery eyes, Stella shook her head, "I can't believe you didn't tell me your previous wife had family."

"That's because I didn't know Alina had family," Luciano groaned, rubbing his temples. "I had to tell you this how many times now?"

Stella gently kissed her husband, shrugging as she let go, "Hmmm... I don't know. Maybe it'll sink in around the hundredth?"

Cartel and Miles exchanged glances before Miles rolled his eyes. Motioning for Cartel to follow Evelyn, Miles sighed, "They've always been like this. Trust me, you learn to like it better when they're making out."

Evelyn giggled, "Miles! Uncle! Please?"

"Coming," Cartellate leaned in and ruffled his nephew's hair. "... You know, this is the oddest way anyone's ever gotten closure."

Miles seized his uncle by the hand and literally forced him towards Evelyn, "But hey. At least you've got a pretty good reason to not kill the Earth any more."

"Your mom died for you," Cartellate smiled desolately. "Any place Alina loved is a place I'd like to learn more about."

Evelyn groaned, "It took you forever! Now let me show you."

Taking her uncle's hands, Evelyn gently pushed the kite strings into his hands, "And now you have to make sure it stays afloat."

Cartel chuckled, "Is that it?" He gently blew towards the kite. The sudden gust of air thrust the kite even higher into the air - and Evelyn and Stella watched in bewilderment as he deftly steered the kite towards new heights without even moving an inch.

Luciano laughed, "You're so cheating."

"Hey, at least he's spending time with us," Miles beamed.

Luciano tapped his chin as he commented, "Weren't you supposed to spend time with Mimi and the others tonight?"

Miles nodded, "But I'll go there in a few minutes. They don't mind if I'm spending time with family, you know? ... We haven't been all together like this in a while."

"That's my boy," Luciano grinned, gently enveloping his son in a one-armed hug while simultaneously ruffling his hair.

Of course, the Beaumont Flower Shoppe wasn't more than three blocks away from the park. Like always, the rather large store always had something going on - and there was plenty of noise that could be heard from miles away. Any customer who wandered in on a random day could easily see why, from the violent brunette seizing her blond employer by the collar to the perky blonde happily watering all the plants in the store.

A purple-haired girl was carefully arranging flowers while her black-haired co-worker decided to sip green tea beside her. One orange-haired teen carefully cut the thorns off roses while his red-haired friend hummed songs under his breath.

None of the adult workers seemed to mind them. Actually? On days like these, most of the adults stayed towards the back of the store and dedicated themselves to relaxing days off at the salon. They knew they wouldn't have this kind of freedom once the girls started school again.

"I miss Retasu," The black-haired girl sighed in-between sips. "You'd think she'd call more often."

"Well," Her blond employer remarked, dusting himself off after the brunette let him go, "She does have school in Japan. She's probably busy with extracurriculars and stuff, right?"

"True," Celsia sighed. "But Ryou, don't you miss her? You were dating her for a couple of months."

"I'll always miss her," Ryou tilted his head to the side. "But you know? Just remembering her's enough for me right now."

The blonde girl hummed, "Mr. Ryou and Miss Retasu, sitting in a tree~ K-I-S-S-I-N-G~ First comes love, then comes marriage~"

The brunette snickered, "Prim, shouldn't you have sung that while she was actually in the country?"

"It would've been rude, Meems," Primrose shrugged. "This way, it only embarrasses Mr. Ryou."

Ryou frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Mimi interrupted, placing her arm around her boss, "You can take a joke. She can't... at least, not without breaking five vases in the process."

The redhead laughed, "This is so true. Niisan, you forgot already?"

"Shaddap," Ryou stuck his tongue out at his kid brother. "I'm just glad things are finally getting back to normal."

The orange-haired teen looked thoughtful for a moment, "That actually reminds me. You guys don't have to work here anymore now that the Mew Project's finally over. We don't have to keep tabs on you or anything."

"We've got nothing better to do," Sorrel pointed out with a slight smile. "And besides, my boyfriend likes picking me up here after my shift's over."

"It's so romantic," Mimi swooned, twirling her hair as she looked at her friend. "It's been over a month since that final battle, and you're still dating Panforte! Or well... you guys got back together and started dating again."

She paused, tilting her head to the side. "What's that like, by the way? I'm sure Panforte gets weird looks."

"Not for anything besides his hair," Sorrel flashed a grin, "We've figured out how to make his ears look normal, and well, clothes can always be changed."

The door chimed as three new customers walked in. The youngest customer took the watering can from Primrose and mock-glared, "Don't you have actual tasks at this store?"

Primrose giggled, "Not really. It's good to see you, Briar."

Chive floated to Celsia and sat on the counter before her, "Hey. You finally done for the day?"

"Buzz off," Celsia rolled her eyes, setting her teacup on the other counter. "You know no matter how many times you're going to ask me, my answer's going to be no."

Roy laughed, "Celsia, you know I have a girlfriend. Why don't you humor Chive and actually go on a date with him?"

"Maybe when pigs fly," Celsia made a face.

Shuugo snickered, "You do realize that can be arranged, right?"

"Sh-Shuugo," Celsia stammered, ignoring her completely beet-red face. "Could you please give me a reason not to date him?"

"He thought you were hot," Mimi offered, crossing her legs as she attempted to fill out a form.

That just made Celsia's face turn even redder, "R-really?"

"I do not say things I do not mean, Celsia," Chive pointed out, flicking her nose lightly. "Please trust me?"

Her eyes widened, "... You actually called me by my name."

Briar furrowed his eyebrows, "That's supposed to be important?"

"Incredibly," Celsia's face lit up. "Fine, fine. Just one date, okay? And it's not even a date-date. It's a friends-only kinda thing."

"Yes!" Chive pumped his fist in the air. "I promise I will not let you down!"

Panforte rolled his eyes as he and Sorrel sat down on a nearby bench. Squeezing her hand, he asked, "Is your shift over yet?"

"Not yet, Romeo," Roy called over the din of the other voices in the flower shoppe. "You forget we're having a party at my place tonight."

Panforte smirked, "So she's all mine after the celebrations?"

Sorrel lightly whapped him on the head, "Hey. I'm not some trophy for you boys to win."

"I know that," Panforte retorted. "So when's the party?"

"We're closing up shop in a few minutes," Shuugo cheerfully called, "So why don't you help us and then we can all go have fun with Noru and Nel and Fuu?"

Panforte nodded, rising from the bench, "Sounds good to me. What do you think, Sor?"

She shrugged, taking his hand. "Great! Now help me finish this last flower arrangement. It's supposed to go to some lady... Gloria Highsby?"

Shuugo and Ryou groaned, "Seriously?"

Sorrel blinked, "What's so bad about her?"

"She's the worst," Shuugo made a face. "Sor, just give her a crappy flower arrangement. Mom and Dad will not honestly care one bit."

Chive snickered, "Busybody neighbor?"

"Even worse," Ryou moaned, "She keeps sicing that monster of a dog on us. She already broke Shuu's finger, my ankle, and Roy's arm... and this was two years ago!"

"Heh," Briar snickered. "So you don't mind losing her business?"

"I'd be thrilled," Shuu admitted, staring at the arrangement. "So guys? Let's get to a stopping point and get out of here. I don't think Nel'd be happy if we waited too long."

Briar and Chive nodded as they helped finish the watering and sweeping. Panforte and Sorrel spent literally two minutes finishing the arrangement before Panforte took it to the refrigerator for next-day delivery, and Mimi finished dusting off the counter. The whole place was clean in a matter of minutes, and Shuu whistled as he watched the place shine.

"Wow," The fox gijinka grinned. "It looks positively amazing!"

Bowing, he let everyone else walk out of the flower shop. Watching as the rest of the lights dimmed, Shuugo then peeked behind the back door and watched his parents. They were sitting on the couch in the back hallway, yes, but Jishou seemed to genuinely be more interested in the flavor of his mother's lips than the research papers stacked high beside the couch.

Making a face, Shuugo called, "Hey, we're leaving for Rovin's house!"

His parents stopped kissing long enough for Liz to shout, "Okay! We'll pick you up around 10!" and then? Shuugo could easily hear them smooching again. Shaking his head, he closed the back door behind him and walked out of the flower shop.

Changing the front sign to read "Closed," he then skipped to catch up with his friends.

"Hey, wait up for me!"

And unsurprisingly? Every single one of them did.