Hikari: Here it is, the final chapter. Just as a special treat, I rewrote this so it's closer to my present style of writing. Someday I hope to rewrite this entire thing. But for now, enjoy the end of They Come And Go! It's been a great ride!

Disclaimer: I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew, save for the characters of my own creation.

Enjoy!

They Come and Go

Epilogue

I walk out onto the sunny veranda of my new home and stretch, popping my back in several places in the process. It's nice to see the sunlight again after being cooped up inside for countless days, working on some project I can't even remember the name of anymore.

I take in the landscape before me and smile. I've learned to appreciate the world around me and it's only gotten more beautiful every day. There's the green grass that grows on rolling hills and leads into crystal blue streams and lakes. Everything around me is truly beautiful and now, because of my time working with the Mews, I can see that. I understand that the world is something to be cherished and protected because without us, it willfall into ruin. That almost happened once, and now I've sworn to never let it happen again.

It's been five years since that fight; five years since she sacrificed herself to save the rest of us. Even if I wanted to, I'd never be able to forget her. On the anniversary of her death, I return to Japan so I can visit her grave, each time taking one more red rose to lay there. Then I sit beside her final resting place and just talk with her. It gives me a peace of mind and an opportunity to see the others. They come and go throughout the day, laying their own flowers in her memory.

To this day I'm still doing research, but this time I'm working to save the environment. It's a far more noble cause than the projects I used to work on and these don't hurt the people around me. On the weekends I even volunteer as a fire fighter. My parents may not have been saved from that fire, but that doesn't mean that others have to lose their loved ones.

I want to make things right and pay back my debt to society.

TMMTMM

Once again I'm running late to the café. One of my teachers kept me after class even though I said that I had somewhere to be. But no, they aren't going to listen to me. That would be too much to ask of them. So now I have to suffer the consequences of being late to work. Hopefully my pay won't get docked as a result.

When Ryou disappeared five years ago, Katsuro took over at the café. He's far nicer than my old boss, but he still cracks down when he has to. He's even docked my pay before because I was late. Then add Mint into the equation and I swear I get picked on just as much as before. I thought things were going to get easier when he left.

We all still work at the café, at least the ones from Japan. Peach and Momo both went back to America and live there now. I miss them, but they couldn't stay here. There were too many painful memories and not enough good ones to off-set them.

All those years ago when we won the final battle, the aliens retreated back to their own planet. It was still a mess, but with the help of a single left-over piece of Mew Aqua, we were able to save it as well. After that, I only saw Kish one final time before he disappeared for good. I guess they can't just travel between our two world whenever they want to. I miss him, but I know that he's better off on his own planet.

I know I should be mad, furious even, at him. It's his fault that she's dead after all. But there's this little side of me that keeps saying that he didn't mean to; he didn't think that anyone was going to die from this. That's the only thing that keeps me from hating him.

TMMTMM

I moved back to America with Momo soon after the final battle was over. There were just too many painful memories in Japan for the two of us to bear. Sure, it's hard at home, but at least we have our friends there to distract us. Even though we were close to the Mews at the end, they still can't replace the support system we left behind at home, and now, even five years later, we really need it.

There is no one to blame for what happened to her. Everyone tried their hardest in that fight but it simply wasn't enough. I don't regret anything that happened and I hope that someday I'm strong enough to return to Japan and visit the others. I want to visit my friends there and maybe even try to find Ryou. He disappeared off the face of the Earth after her death and sometimes I worry about him. I hope that his heart has been able to heal.

Life here is calm and sometimes it gets pretty boring. I still have the animal DNA in my blood and so does Momo. It will probably never disappear from our veins because what we were injected with all those years was slightly different than what the other girls got. That's probably why their powers went away when the fighting was over. I hope their powers never come back. I don't want to chance losing another friend and if they regain the ability to fight, I know that they will.

TMMTMM

Life goes on for seven girls and three boys, but it will never be the same as it once was. Out of all the aliens, Tart was the only one to stay on Earth so he could be with Pudding, whom he finally admitted to liking. Kish was never seen again and the others assumed that he decided to remain on his own planet. Pan wanted to stay on Earth and try to win the affections of Mint, but decided against it at the last minute. There are just some things that will never come to pass and he knows that.

Everyone seems to be happy now, but if someone were to look a little deeper, they would see the pain all of them share. They're all mourning a lost friend. That final fight tore them apart and severed the bonds that will never be replaced. Ryou disappeared off the face of the planet and no one could ever find him. The aliens all returned home save for Tart. The original five Mews still talked and worked together, but it just wasn't the same without the other three.

Some things will never return to normal and all of them know that. They may miss their friend dearly, but they've chosen to move on with their lives. It's what she would have wanted. People come and go all the time; moving in and out of their lives. Suika was an example of that.

The End

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