Kisshu stiffened as a girl with long red hair flew through the vortex. He knew it was Ichigo, what made him stiffen was that she was clinging to a guy's arm. And even as much as it sickened him, he had to smile after all those years without her. She stood immediately, but was pushed back down as three other girls flew screaming out of the portal. After a few seconds, Ryou and Keiichiro walked through and the three aliens dropped their hands so that the portal disappeared.

"Mew Ichigo." Kisshu said in greeting, holding his hand out to her.

Ichigo looked up, surprised. There before her was not the twerp of an alien she had last seen, but rather a tall man with long, green hair that flowed to the floor. She jumped up, ignoring his hand, and hugged him tightly around his neck.

"Mew Ichigo!" she said laughing while pulling back to look him over again, "Don't be so formal Kisshu!"

Kisshu blushed, but then smiled and said, "Alright then. Hello, Ichigo! Long time no see!

She smiled, and then turned to help her friends get up. Next, Ryou approached Pai and gave him a good, hard handshake that even Pai winced at.

"Hello, Pai." Lettuce's small voice just barely caught Pai's ears.

He turned towards her and then gave her a rare smile and said, "Hello, Lettuce. You look beautiful today."

Lettuce blushed sweetly at him. Pai had grown taller and although he hadn't changed much, he had become more gentle and nicer.

Taruto ran by them, staring distraught at where the portal had been.

Pudding stood aside watching him look and then called out, "What are you looking for?"

Taruto stopped to glance at her then continued looking and said, "My friend Pudding is not here! Where is she?"

At this point Pudding burst out into laughter making Taruto glare at her and ask, "What's so funny! She said she would be here!"

"Oh, Taruto! You still haven't grown out of your childish self! I'm right here! It's me, Pudding." Pudding yelled at him through her laughter.

Taruto's eyes widened as he looked her over then finally settled on saying, "So…it's been three years. Strange, right?"

She smiled and walked over to him, taking his hand, "Right."

For a moment things were silent, even with the villagers who had come to watch. But then there was a jingle of a bell in the distance.

"Shoot!" Kisshu said, panicked, "Ichigo, Mint! Hold onto my arms. Masaya! Grab my ankle when I fly!"

Pai ordered the same for Lettuce, Ryou, and Keiichiro. Taruto ordered it for Pudding and Zakuro. Suddenly, there was another bell chime, this one much louder. At once all the villagers shot into the air and Kisshu, Pai, and Taruto carried the Mews and the rest into the sky. A roaring sound began under their feet and suddenly the ground began to shake and tremble.

"An earthquake!" Ichigo whispered incredulously.

"Yeah." Kisshu grunted.

Finally, after a few minutes, the shaking stopped and everyone floated safely to the ground.

"It happens everyday at the same time." Pai told the Mews, "So you hopefully will be staying only until my legs are fully healed."

Lettuce gasped, noticing for the first time that Pai had not been standing, but actually hovering over the ground.

Ichigo clung to Kisshu again as another chime of a bell drifted slowly to their ears.

"Oh. Don't worry about that, that's just our goddess'." He said with a sly smile, looking straight at Ryou, "You8 should meet them. Follow us."

The Mews followed slowly through the marble temple in awe at the beautiful carvings and murals on the walls. Finally the three aliens led them into a large courtyard that had a huge garden. They stepped down some stairs into the garden and were amazed by the trees with all different kinds of fruits that no one had seen before. The bushes were cut into shapes of animals and there were five other paths besides theirs. All the paths aimed for the center of the garden, like a bicycle wheel. Finally, after traveling through a small orchid with an odd fruit that was pink, they all stopped in amazement. There in the center of an inner garden was the most beautiful fountain they had ever seen.

The fountain had a statue in the middle of two large cats. One cat, as portrayed with rare white and black marble, was a snow leopard and the carving had perfected it's stance of maternal protection over the second cat. The other cat was the size of a young lion cub but its lack of mane and the pure black marble showed that it was a black panther. The statue pose was that snow leopard was straddling the black panther cub with her two front legs and the baby panther's face was unturned as it licked the leopard's chin.

But even more majestic was a girl sitting on a marble bench in front of the fountain. Her back was turned to them but Ichigo sensed she knew they were there.

After a few moments the girl called out in a soft voice, "Hello, Kisshu. I didn't know you would bring me visitors today."

"Sorry, I just thought you would want to see Ryou again." Kisshu called out with a smirk.

The girl stood immediately and then turned slowly to look over the group. Her eyes finally met Ryou's and he gasped. Everyone else did too. This girl was the most innocently beautiful girl they had ever seen. Her long brown hair had been pulled into a loose side ponytail that flowed down her right shoulder. Her skin was a little lighter than Masaya's, a perfect tone. And her beautiful brown eyes were so captivating; it was hard to breathe around her. Also, for a girl who looked about Ichigo's age she had perfect curves but an angelic aroma.

She whispered softly in her piano like voice, "Ryou."

Ryou stared and choked out, "Skylar?"

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Hoped you liked this chapter! It's kind of short but a really big part of the plot!!! Also, many of you want this story to be Kish/Ichi or Ryou/Ichi. However, there will be different love scenes with different characters (although there will be Kish/Ichi and Ryou/Ichi). There will be another character coming so beware!!!!