Sora woke up the next morning, almost in a shock. Did everything that happen yesterday actually happen? She rubbed her eyes from exhaustion only to see a small animal face in front of her.

"Good morning ~sky!"

Sora screamed and fell out of bed. She was definitely awake now. All she could hope now was that she didn't wake up the rest of her family.

"Owwwwww!" Sora held her knees after hitting the ground before looking back up at Skyla again. "Skyla! Don't do that please! I could've woken up my parents! And my brother!"

"Sorry ~sky. But this little thing wouldn't stop beeping so I didn't know what else to do after you wouldn't wake up ~sky." Skyla sighed as she held an alarm clock up to Sora's face. Only one quick glance at the time was enough to get Sora off the floor of her bedroom to get ready for school.

"I only have 20 minutes to eat, make lunch and head to school! Crap!" Sora got dressed in her uniform, brushed her hair and ran downstairs as if her life depended on it. Unfortunately, she ran right into her younger brother... Rio.

"Sis, can you shut up? I woke up way earlier for school than I wanted to because of you screaming. What is going on with you?"

"Ahahaha it's nothing! I just thought I was running late! Turns out everything is okay! See you later~!" Sora stuffed what looked like a piece of bread into her mouth before throwing some food into her bag and running out the door as Rio watched in confusion before walking to the couch and laying down.

"Wait ~sky! I need to go with you ~sky!" Skyla had grabbed on to Sora's leg while she was running around in a panic. Of course Sora didn't know this so hearing her voice startled her even more.

"Skylaaaa! You can come with me but you need to stay quiet and stay out of sight. Promise you'll do that?" Sora unzipped her school bag, signaling that she wanted the little creature to go in there. Skyla reluctantly nodded and entered Sora's bag.

"Heeeey Sora!" A voice rang out from behind. It was Izumi, with Miyuki following right behind. Sora quickly zipped her bag as if nothing happened.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Sora continued acting as casually as possible just in case her friends noticed Skyla or her talking to what looked like a stuffed animal.

"Nothing really, but Sora, are you okay? You were searching through your bag just a second ago." Miyuki said skeptically, as she looked at Sora's nervous expression.

"I was just making sure I had that homework! And I do! Yay!" Sora raised her fist to the air in victory, which only made her friends more suspicious of her behavior. Both of them had confused looks on their faces.

"Did you actually finish your work?"

"Of course I did! I stayed up super late and barely finished it! I don't know how accurate my work is but at least it's done?"

Izumi and Miyuki both sighed in relief. "Wow Sora, what are we going to do with you?"

"What does that mean?"

Neither of her friends answered and instead started walking to school while holding Sora's hands, practically dragging her along. After a few minutes of walking, the trio finally entered the school. Sora looked around for Emiri, hoping she was okay after what had happened the day before at the park where she met Skyla and became Cure Lightning. She wasn't there watering the flowers like she always was, so where was Emiri? Not seeing Emiri there made Sora extremely nervous.

Suddenly, someone tapped on Sora's shoulder, causing her to jump.

"Emiri?! You're okay! I was worried about you!!"

"W-what are you talking about?" Emiri was completely confused as to what Sora meant. "Can you explain what you mean, Kato?"

Sora stared off into space for a brief moment thinking of what to say without revealing the whole Precure thing to Emiri.

"You know! The park! That monster showed up and then some girl came out of nowhere and defeated it? Doesn't that ring a bell?"

Emiri finally understood what Sora was talking about, she was worried because she didn't know if she was okay after the attack! Made sense.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I saw that girl fighting, she was actually quite amazing. But I just came to tell you that your socks are mismatched." Emiri pointed down at Sora's shoes, and sure enough, her socks were mismatched. That's what she got for running late. Sora instantly got really embarrassed as some nearby students quietly laughed. She searched through her bag, hoping to find something that would fix her problem, however, nothing was going to be of help. Sora remembered that her soccer bag was also an option so she searched through her soccer bag and found another sock that would match. It smelled like grass still but no big deal. Now she wouldn't get in trouble for a small mistake like mismatched socks.

Before Sora even had a chance to thank Emiri for pointing out her socks, the bell for class rang. Oh well, Sora could thank her later. They were in the same class after all so it wasn't too big of a problem. Sora met back up with Izumi and Miyuki and walked to their class together.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

In the dark, dirty air of Pollution, a group of people began to gather as they walked towards their leader's throne room. The lord of darkness himself, they called him King Pollution. No one knew his real name of course, so they just referred to him as King Pollution. Tornado walked up, preparing to give his report to the King.

"Your majesty, I have some news." Tornado quickly got on one knee and bowed down. The King's expression quickly changed to suspicion.

"What is it, Tornado? I don't see any kind of key, did you come just to tell me you failed?"

"No, no of course not! It's the Precure, they have returned. Well, so far there's only one but we'll have to act fast before more begin to appear!"

A couple other voices soon rang in, interrupting Tornado and the King.

"The Precure huh? I haven't heard that in years!", a man's voice said.

"Not since Cure Nature was around." said a girl, she looked a lot younger than the others.

"Quiet down! I didn't ask you all to speak. Don't make me have to punish you." The King shouted, angered at the other people who had spoken up. They quietly apologized and walked out of the room. "Now, what were you saying Tornado?"

"Nothing! I'll come up with my next plan to attack so I can steal the key back and stop Cure Lightning. I won't disappoint you, I promise." After declaring he would defeat their new enemy, Tornado walked out of the room. How was he going to stop them this time? And how do you stop more Cures from showing up. He had no idea how that worked but he sure as hell was going to try.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

Class seemed to drag for hours. Sora kept going back and forth between paying attention and trying to keep up with notes, and staring out the window waiting for the day to be over. Why was school so boring and unengaging? Sora looked up as Emiri went up to the front of the class to write in an answer for last night's homework, and to no surprise, she got it right. Emiri walked back to her seat, which was a couple rows away from Sora's as the teacher looked at who to call on next. She and Sora made eye contact for not even a couple seconds, and sure enough, Sora was next to go up and write on the board.

Uh oh, I didn't do that problem! How am I supposed to answer?! Why does it have to be me?? Sora's scattered thoughts took over her mind as she went up to answer the question. She was so nervous, she was practically sweating. But whatever, she couldn't act too nervous, otherwise, people would think she didn't do her work. She started writing down numbers, hoping they would make sense. Unfortunately, she was incorrect. 

Sora felt embarrassed as her teacher told her that she was wrong, nothing hurt more than getting answers wrong in front of the class. As Sora walked back to her seat, she looked at Emiri, who looked at her. Emiri quietly whispered something to Sora that she was barely able to make out.

"Hey, Kato, if you want, I can help you with homework tomorrow afternoon."

Sora's eyes lit up at the thought, she nodded back at Emiri as she whispered back "yes please!" before sitting back down. After that, the day seemed to go by a little bit faster. And sure enough, it was time to go home once again. Sora stayed for soccer practice like always, but she felt a lot better. Emiri was going to help her! Maybe she could ask her about the incident from the other day.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

The next morning, Sora got up, ate breakfast, and got ready to head over to Emiri's house. She caught Emiri after soccer the day before and was able to get her address. She wasn't too far away which was a huge relief for her. Sora looked at herself in the mirror, wearing her favorite outfit which consisted of a light blue t shirt layered over a yellow long sleeve shirt and coordinated with a cute tan skirt where her Nature Commune hung off her hip. She wore long white knee highs and some blue high top sneakers as well. Maybe not the most fashionable outfit but it was cute and functional so Sora was fine with it.

Sora walked down the stairs, making sure she grabbed the things she needed before heading off to Emiri's. Lets see, my notes, the homework, and some snacks. Perfect! Sora thought to herself, before turning to her family.

"I'll be back later today!" She yelled as she walked out the door.

"Take care Sora! Please stay safe!" Her mom yelled back.

Sora began walking to the next neighborhood where Emiri lived. She was in a pretty good mood, the weather was nice, it was peaceful and she could finally talk to Emiri about what had happened when they were in the park. All she hoped was that she didn't make the connection regarding Cure Lightning. As she continued walking, a small voice rang out, startling Sora once again.

"Wait for me ~sky!"

Sora looked and saw Skyla floating towards her.

"How did you get here?!"

"I opened your window and slid out ~sky! Don't think you were going to leave without me ~sky. Whoever this Emiri is, she could become the next Precure or something ~sky."

Sora sighed at the thought. She wasn't looking for her partner to fight evil with, she needed help with homework so she wouldn't embarrass herself in front of the class. Was it that hard to understand?

"Okay fine... you can come with me. But I can't promise I'll find the next Precure today! I have a life of my own you know!" Sora pouted as Skyla came and sat on top of her bag. She didn't make the bag heavier which was a relief.

After a few more minutes, Sora finally arrived at Emiri's house. It was surprisingly big, at least bigger than what Sora expected. It even seemed bigger than her house, but then again, Emiri's house wasn't attached to a little chocolate shop. The thing that made Sora recognize Emiri's house was the beautiful rainbow of flowers in the yard. She had a little garden, not a surprise, since she was always watering the flowers at school. Sora had never seen so many flowers before, it was actually really amazing.

She walked up the porch to the front door and rang the doorbell. Emiri opened the door and smiled at Sora. She was wearing a pink dress with a white denim jacket and some sandals. She had those same bows in her hair, she looked really cute, no surprise.

"Kato! You're here! Come on in!" Emiri left the door open for Sora as she walked in and took her shoes off, leaving them by the door. Sora followed Emiri to a room, her bedroom to be exact. There was a little table in the middle of the room set up with some pencils and Emiri's school papers. There were even two glasses of water set out for them. Sora went ahead and sat down on the floor at the table.

"Wow! Your room is so cute!!"

Emiri nodded shyly, continuing to smile at Sora. Was she too afraid to make a conversation or something? Sora was aware that she was kinda quiet but that didn't stop her before. Something must've been on her mind.

"Thanks. Ummm before we start, is it okay if I talk about something?" Emiri asked as she sat on the ground across from Sora.

"Of course! I had to ask you something anyway. What is it?" Sora smiled at Emiri signaling that it was okay for her to talk about whatever she needed to.

"Okay, so you were with me at the park the other day right? What was that all about? There was that monster and then some girl. Do you know anything about who she is?" Emiri asked many questions leaving Sora a bit confused.

"Wow that's a lot of questions to answer but I'll try my best. Uhhhh yes I was at the park with you. I don't exactly know what was with the monster or that dude who showed up. As for the
girl? I don't know who she is!" Sora really had to lie to Emiri's face about some details, which hurt her. Sora didn't like lying. She could do it to her brother no problem, but lying to friends was almost impossible.

"I see. Well where did you go? I couldn't find you after the monster thing showed up, I almost thought something happened to you! That's why I was relieved to see you at school the next day. I know I don't usually talk to you but you made so much effort trying to talk to me and I wanted to try and be a little more outgoing if that makes sense." Emiri continued talking to Sora. What she was saying, it was surprisingly really sweet and touching. It did kinda say a lot about her too. Was Emiri really trying to break out of her shell after Sora had approached her? That was interesting.

"I just ran away, I wish I could've ran with you in case you were in any danger but I couldn't find you either." Sora said.

"You couldn't? I was just hiding in one of the bushes that wasn't blown away. I'm glad you were looking out for me at least! We hardly even know each other and you're nice enough to make sure I was safe!" Emiri said, feeling relieved.

"Ahaha it's nothing! I just have to look out for people whether I know them or not, you know? Anyway, let's get started on that homework!" Sora opened her bag and pulled out the things she needed. Emiri briefly glanced at what Sora had so she could realize what she needed to help her with. Once she knew, she sat down right next to Sora and the two of them started working.

Something about the way Emiri explained how to do things helped Sora a lot more. It just made sense somehow. Because of her help, Sora could maybe begin improving in school! Maybe if another monster or that Tornado guy were to appear, Emiri would be the perfect Precure! She obviously cared about the planet and was also sweet and sensible. If only Sora could ask her to join... too bad that would ruin all the secrets Sora promised to keep when she became Cure Lightning.

Just outside Emiri's room, in the backyard, Tornado stood on the highest tree branch, watching the duo talk and do homework together. He quietly laughed to himself, it was mission time.

"Found you, Precure."

A sudden buzzing sound stopped Sora and Emiri from working. It was Sora's Nature Commune! But why was it buzzing?!

"Hey, your phone is ringing. Should you answer it?"

Sora pulled the Nature Commune out of its pouch. The small screen suddenly had a little alert thing flashing on it. It read POLLUTION ENERGY DETECTED!! She looked at the screen, and then at Emiri.

"I'll be right back, it might be an emergency."

"Wait! Kato! I mean, Sora!"

Sora ran outside, knowing danger was nearby. She had no idea Emiri had followed her outside. Sure enough, Tornado was out there. He laughed.

"Finally! My opponent has arrived! Now hand me that key! Or your little phone thingy and I'll leave you alone. Sound good?"

"If you want them, you'll have to fight me first!" Sora declared, standing in a position where she looked like she was ready to fight.

"You want to make this a hard fight? Very well then..." Tornado groaned before beginning to summon yet another KuzuBug. This time, he used the tree he was just standing in.

"Pollute the Earth and Destroy! Let's go KuzuBug!"

The KuzuBug took up so much space in Emiri's backyard and Sora felt awful. She had to make sure it didn't damage the house or anything in the neighborhood.

"Sora! What is that?!" Emiri asked from the porch.

"No time to explain! I have to stop it before it tries and destroys your house!"

"What?! Don't tell me you know how to fight that thing? This is the exact same thing that was at the park!"

"I know it is, and that's why I'll stop it like before!" Sora pulled out her Nature Commune and pressed the button on it.

"Precure, Nature Flash!"

The same blue light surrounded her as before, while her outfit and appearance changed. She landed on the ground, sending a few shocks towards Tornado and the KuzuBug.

"Striking in the Great Forces of Nature! Cure Lightning!"

Lightning posed and then ran towards the KuzuBug preparing to punch it. It was already slightly stunned from the shockwave prior to her attacking it but not enough to make the fight easy.

"Sora... you were the girl who fought the monster in the park! It all makes sense now!

Emiri continued to watch Lightning fight. She felt like she was watching Lightning's every move as she tried to weaken the KuzuBug. But strangely, a lot of her attacks were being countered.

"Ha! Aren't I brilliant?? I've been secretly ordering my KuzuBug to counter your every move! So far it's quite effective, don't you agree?" Tornado laughed, though his laugh didn't really sound all that evil.

"Well yeah... so far. But I doubt you can predict my every move!" Lightning darted out of the way as the KuzuBug tried reaching out to grab her. Good thing her reflexes were still lightning fast.

Then something very shocking happened, the KuzuBug swung at Lightning as she prepared to use her strike attack. Lightning flew backwards and landed on the ground, crushing one of the small flower beds in the yard.

"Lightning!! Are you okay?!" Emiri instantly became worried as Lightning struggled to get back up again. She looked at the slightly damaged flowers and her expression slowly went from worry to anger.

Tornado laughed again as Emiri started becoming more enraged.

"Awww are you mad that your flowers got crushed? Or are you mad that I'm kicking your little friend's butt?"

"No... it's not that... you're threatening to destroy the earth aren't you? I heard what you said the other day! You want some key to pollute our world and destroy it! That's unforgivable!! I care about this planet and I want everyone living on it to have a long and happy life. And if you get your way, that won't happen! I swear I will protect this earth with everything I have!"

Lightning looked towards Emiri. She had never heard her sound so... passionate. She only just met Emiri but she could tell there was something special about her.

A light began to glow and Skyla flew out of the bedroom holding something. Another Nature Commune!

"I feel it ~sky! The power of a Precure ~sky!"

"Precure? Wait, you can talk?" Emiri looked in shock as Skyla floated towards her. She handed her the Nature Commune.

"I don't have time to explain now, but use this and transform ~sky! Hurry before it destroys more of your home ~sky!"

Emiri grabbed her Nature Commune, now looking more confident and determined than before.

"Precure, Nature Flash!"

Emiri became surrounded in a pink light instantly. She was also surrounded by a faint yellow mist, it almost smelled sweet. Her clothes became a long pink flowy dress, similar to Sora's. Her arms glows as pink arm warmers appeared, they looked like Lightning's but had white lace at the ends and they looked a little longer. They also didn't have the fingerless gloves underneath.

Her dress began to change as well. A pink top appeared with short sleeves featuring lace trim. Her skirt also appeared revealing a fairly short pink skirt trimmed with white lace, the dress was held together by a light yellow belt.

Emiri's outfit continued to change as long pale pink socks appeared with small silver ribbons towards the top of the shoes which had the same lace seen on her skirt and sleeves. Pink boots that looked almost like Lightning's appeared on her feet. The only difference was the color and the fact that they didn't have the same silver trim at the tips.

The top of her dress began to glow as a darker pink bow with a silver lightning bolt in the center appeared. Her hair then became a light pink as her bangs slightly curled and her longer strands of hair were pulled into small buns held up by pink bows with silver lightning bolts and earrings in the same color. Emiri opened her eyes, which had become a dark pink as opposed to their usual caramel brown color. She twirled around as a carry case holding the Nature Commune appeared on her hip. She landed on the ground.

When she landed, a yellow bubble of that same mist from before surrounded her.

"Bringing Nature's Sweet Scent! Cure Ginger!"

Ginger posed as she announced her name. Cure Ginger? Why was that her name? She didn't think much of it but it seemed slightly strange. But then again it was a herb or plant of some kind that grew and had a strong scent. It made a little bit of sense.

Lightning looked at her new partner with a huge smile on her face. She finally didn't have to worry about searching anymore for someone to fight with her.

"Another Precure?! Impossible! Go! KuzuBug!!"

The KuzuBug started slowly walking towards Ginger but she didn't flinch at all. Instead, she created some kind of yellowish looking mist similar to what surrounded her while she transformed. She created a decent enough amount of it and tossed it at the KuzuBug. The mist slowed it down and blocked its vision. Could Ginger create mist and turn it into other things?? Whatever she could do, it was really amazing.

She reached out her hand to Lightning, who was still on the ground.

"You okay?"

"Yeah! Come on! Lets fight together!"

The duo looked at each other in agreement as they began working together to stop the KuzuBug. It's vision was already blocked which made it easier for the two Cures to get around it and slow it down. Lightning started shocking it's feet as Ginger created more of her mist stuff and trapped the monster in a bubble.

"Precure Ginger Mist!"

Ginger shouted her attack name as the KuzuBug became weaker in the bubble of mist she created. It was quite amazing honestly. Lightning was nothing but impressed. The KuzuBug finally weakened enough to the point where it disappeared leaving Tornado without a monster to do his bidding.

"Curses!! I'll get you next time Precure! I'm sure of it!" Tornado looked at the girls as he struggled to accept defeat. As he disappeared, he mumbled something that they could barely make out.

"He's not going to like this!!"

The backyard slowly formed back to normal, well everything except for the tree. The tree was unfortunately damaged. Lightning and Ginger looked at the tree, sad but hopeful.

"I'm sorry about your tree. Do you think it'll be okay?"

"Yeah, it'll take some time but I think parts of it will be able to grow again. That's just how it is with plants right?"

"Mhm!"

They looked at each other again and smiled. Maybe the two of them being Precure would give them the chance to become friends, they'd be hanging out together a lot more often from now on.

The girls detransformed and walked back inside as if nothing happened. Skyla followed them inside.

"That was amazing ~sky! I can tell you girls will make a great team ~sky! And now that you're a team, I think it may be time I explain your mission properly ~sky."

"About time!! I've been so confused!" Sora said, relieved.

"I'm a bit confused as well, but only because I don't know why anyone would want to destroy the earth. Tell us everything Skyla. Please?"

"Will do ~sky!"

Sora smiled again before turning to Emiri.

"You know, that was really cool!! I learned a lot about you today! You like flowers and you're one of those environmentalist people!"

"Yeah, I am. And I hate to ask but why did you lie to me about Cure Lightning? I would've kept it a secret." Emiri responded, looking at Sora with slight suspicion.

"Ahaha! Well I'm not supposed to tell everyone about Precure! I probably could've told you if I knew you'd become my partner! Lets just promise not to hold that against each other okay? I'm not even that great of a liar..."

"Okay! I promise!! You know Sora, I think we might become good friends now. I feel comfortable around you, like I can talk to you about anything! I'm not usually like this, maybe you'll be the one to help me change?"

"For sure! Anything for a friend!" Sora made a peace sign and winked at Emiri, who blushed just a little bit at Sora's promise. The two went back to Emiri's bedroom and began to finish the work from before. When it was time for Sora to head home, she offered Emiri one thing.

"Hey, do you want to hang with Skyla for a while? Since we're partners and all, I figured it would make sense if we shared taking care of her!"

"What do you think I am ~sky?!"

"Well we're the ones taking care of you aren't we? Go get to know Emiri for a day or two, I'm sure you guys will have fun."

"Okay then ~sky. Just remember that I still have to explain everything to you ~sky."

"I'll remember! I'll come back tomorrow!"

Sora waved goodbye to Emiri and Skyla as she walked back home. What an interesting day, she thought to herself. At least I know now that I have a partner and I'll finally get to figure out this Precure thing!! Yay!

To be continued..