I stepped out gingerly onto the sidewalk. The cold breeze nipped at my
skin as I pulled my jacket tighter around my shoulders. Slowly, I
pushed the car door closed before moving my bag up higher on my
shoulder. Very timidly, I walked up the temple's stairs, trying my
hardest to hold back my tears, but failing miserably. I stopped and
turned back around to see if it wasn't too late to change my mind, but
my father's car had already left, leaving just the cold breeze, my
broken heart, and me alone to confront my friends. A heavy sigh escaped
my throat as a tear drop fell from my eye. I quickly wiped it off. Be
strong I told myself while attempting to smile. I forced my legs to move
up the stairs, one foot after another, until I reached the top. Music
flowed from the open door leading into the temple.
Serena and Raye came running out towards me, newspaper in Raye's hand.
Try as she might, Serena couldn't outrun Raye and got swatted a few
times before they both stopped dead in their tracked when they saw
me. " Mina.." Serena questioned, a look of concern appearing on her
face. I tried to smile for her sake, but I just couldn't do it. I
dropped my orange bag onto the ground before bursting into tears. Both
Raye and Serena instantly attached themselves to me, embracing me in
a hug. " Let's get you inside and then you can tell us what's wrong,"
Raye whispered to me as she picked up my bag and led me inside. Lita
and Amy both looked up as I came into the room.
" Mina? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Amy asked me while turning the
music down. Raye sat me down on the floor inbetween everyone. I looked
around at each of the four girls. This only made me feel worse. I wasn't
sure if I was even going to be able to tell them the bad news. I took
the tissue that Lita offered me and took a deep breath. I twirled my
blonde hair around my pointer finger before I began to speak.
" I..I don't know how to say this (sniff). I'm going to miss you guys
so much."
I broke into tears again as memories began to flood into my thoughts.
All the battles against evil, all the sleepovers, all the games at
the video arcade, all the major crushes on the boys....
" I'm sorry. This...this is difficult for me to say. Ok, here it goes.
I'm...I'm going back to England (sniff). My parents are sending me back
to live with Aunt Cl..Cl..Clara. I'm going to miss you guys so much!"
" You're not serious, are you?"
" England? When?"
" You can't be leaving!"
I grabbed another tissue as the four swarmed me and engulfed me in
a big group hug. They began to cry along with me, seeing how serious
of a matter this was.
" Oh, Mina! Things won't be the same without you. What about the Sailor
Scouts? What about everything?"
I glanced up at Lita as she spoke. Little did she know that her words
made me feel even worse. The mention of the Sailor Scouts reminded me
of my alter ego back in England, Sailor V. All my problems from my
past life attacked my thoughts harshly as I thought of Sailor V. I
remembered the curse that Ace had put on me, the curse of never
being able to be loved by a significant other. I thought of Alan and
Katerina. Katerina, my best friend, stole the one boy
that had mattered to me back then, Alan. His blue hair, his broad
shoulders, his barely there smile... they all came floating back to
me in my memories.
" I can't..I can't go back to England!"
" Oh, Mina! We'll miss you, but England will be fun. Just think, you
get to visit with your childhood memories! Won't that be fun!"
" Raye..you can't understand what this means. My childhood is the
reason that I convinced my parents to move away from that damn city
in England! And now look! My mother is sending me back there! She
doesn't care about my feelings. She's just tired of dealing with me!"
Another wave of tears hit me harder this time. My friends finally got
the idea that this wouldn't be an easy or fun thing for me to go
through with. They each took turns trying to comfort me, but nothing
they said helped. They would never understand my past and they would
never realize how hard it would be to be put back into it.
" Can I use your phone, Raye?"
" Sure."
" I have to go home. My flight leaves in a few hours. I couldn't
leave without saying goodbye."
I slowly lifted my body off of the floor, even though it felt like
I was carrying the weight of five sumo wrestlers. I craddled the phone
to my ear as I lifted my shaking hand to dial my home number so that
my dad would come to pick me up. Unfortunently, my hand trembled so
much that I couldn't hit the little buttons. I carelessly let the
phone drop to the floor as I slid down the wall until I was curled
up on the floor with my face buried into my knees. Amy quickly came
over and called my parents while the others gathered around, stroking
my long hair and curling their heads next to mine. I seriously had no
idea how I would ever be able to leave such good friends like these.
***
" The plane will be landing in ten minutes..." the pilot announced
over the loud speaker system. It was followed by the current weather
conditions and flight connection gates, but I ignored all of that.
I opened the box that I had resting on my lap and looked inside. The
card, stationary, comminicator, stuffed kitten, and phone card still
sat inside, as it had for the last few hours. I couldn't stop myself
from taking a peek inside every few minutes to make sure that
everything was still there. At the airport back in Japan, the scouts
and my parents said their last goodbyes before sending me on my way
to England. The scouts had presented me with this box and made me
promise to call them as soon as I had settled in. At the same time,
I also made a promise to myself try and be happy and open to whatever
may happen in England.
The plane landed smoothly on the ground a few minutes later. It took
forever to clear the plane out, but I was so relieved to stretch out
my cramped legs that the wait was well worth it. I rushed over to
the luggage area, well aware that Artemis would be grouchy. He hated
being tossed around in the cargo area of planes. I found all of
my luggage and Artemis within a few minutes. Walking out of the
luggage claim, I saw what looked to be a much younger version of
my mother.
" Aunt Clara?" I questioned as I moved closer to the short, blonde
lady dressed in pink. She looked over at me with a humongus smile
as she pulled me into the tightest bear-hug I had ever been put into.
" Is that you, Mina darlin'? You've grown! What's the sister of mine
been feeding you?" she laughed as she took some of my suitcases and
poked a finger into Atremis' cage to scratch his chin. She then led
me out to her bright green car.
" It's so nice to have you staying with us, Mina! Franky and I are
really gonna enjoy having you!"
" How is Uncle Franky?"
" Oh, he's quite good for an old timer (laughs). His hairs growin'
thin, but you didn't hear that from me (winks)."
Aunt Clara continued talking non stop the entire ride to her home.
I couldn't help but smile as she told me everything about her life.
She was so carefree, the total opposite of my stressed and forever
yelling mother. Maybe this won't be so bad after all I thought to
myself as she pulled into a long driveway.
The house was too big for just two people to be living in. It was
two stories tall and painted brown. The inside had a beige theme
to it that was nice and relaxing. Uncle Franky threw open the front
door to greet us and help with the bags. He too embraced me in a
big hug. As soon as we had gotten everything inside, Uncle Franky
grabbed my arm and dragged me upstairs.
" You'll have plenty of time to explore the house later. Let's go
check out your room, shall we?" he laughed excitedly. When we
reached the end of the staircase, he opened a door at the end of
the hall. The room was painted in light orange and the bed was
made up with orange sheets and tons of fluffy pillows. On the bed
laid a box with a butterfly pattern on it. " You have to check
out the balcony," my Uncle said as he threw back the curtains and
pulled open the door. We both stepped out. A small table and chair
were set out already. The view was a grassy hill with a playground
on it while the ocean filled the background. " Ain't it sorta
pretty? I love the ocean in the background. You should go visit it
sometime soon," he said as he sat down in the metal chair. Looking
around, I noticed that the houses around here were pretty close
together. " Let's head back in," Uncle Franky said as he heaved
himself up and walked back inside.
skin as I pulled my jacket tighter around my shoulders. Slowly, I
pushed the car door closed before moving my bag up higher on my
shoulder. Very timidly, I walked up the temple's stairs, trying my
hardest to hold back my tears, but failing miserably. I stopped and
turned back around to see if it wasn't too late to change my mind, but
my father's car had already left, leaving just the cold breeze, my
broken heart, and me alone to confront my friends. A heavy sigh escaped
my throat as a tear drop fell from my eye. I quickly wiped it off. Be
strong I told myself while attempting to smile. I forced my legs to move
up the stairs, one foot after another, until I reached the top. Music
flowed from the open door leading into the temple.
Serena and Raye came running out towards me, newspaper in Raye's hand.
Try as she might, Serena couldn't outrun Raye and got swatted a few
times before they both stopped dead in their tracked when they saw
me. " Mina.." Serena questioned, a look of concern appearing on her
face. I tried to smile for her sake, but I just couldn't do it. I
dropped my orange bag onto the ground before bursting into tears. Both
Raye and Serena instantly attached themselves to me, embracing me in
a hug. " Let's get you inside and then you can tell us what's wrong,"
Raye whispered to me as she picked up my bag and led me inside. Lita
and Amy both looked up as I came into the room.
" Mina? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Amy asked me while turning the
music down. Raye sat me down on the floor inbetween everyone. I looked
around at each of the four girls. This only made me feel worse. I wasn't
sure if I was even going to be able to tell them the bad news. I took
the tissue that Lita offered me and took a deep breath. I twirled my
blonde hair around my pointer finger before I began to speak.
" I..I don't know how to say this (sniff). I'm going to miss you guys
so much."
I broke into tears again as memories began to flood into my thoughts.
All the battles against evil, all the sleepovers, all the games at
the video arcade, all the major crushes on the boys....
" I'm sorry. This...this is difficult for me to say. Ok, here it goes.
I'm...I'm going back to England (sniff). My parents are sending me back
to live with Aunt Cl..Cl..Clara. I'm going to miss you guys so much!"
" You're not serious, are you?"
" England? When?"
" You can't be leaving!"
I grabbed another tissue as the four swarmed me and engulfed me in
a big group hug. They began to cry along with me, seeing how serious
of a matter this was.
" Oh, Mina! Things won't be the same without you. What about the Sailor
Scouts? What about everything?"
I glanced up at Lita as she spoke. Little did she know that her words
made me feel even worse. The mention of the Sailor Scouts reminded me
of my alter ego back in England, Sailor V. All my problems from my
past life attacked my thoughts harshly as I thought of Sailor V. I
remembered the curse that Ace had put on me, the curse of never
being able to be loved by a significant other. I thought of Alan and
Katerina. Katerina, my best friend, stole the one boy
that had mattered to me back then, Alan. His blue hair, his broad
shoulders, his barely there smile... they all came floating back to
me in my memories.
" I can't..I can't go back to England!"
" Oh, Mina! We'll miss you, but England will be fun. Just think, you
get to visit with your childhood memories! Won't that be fun!"
" Raye..you can't understand what this means. My childhood is the
reason that I convinced my parents to move away from that damn city
in England! And now look! My mother is sending me back there! She
doesn't care about my feelings. She's just tired of dealing with me!"
Another wave of tears hit me harder this time. My friends finally got
the idea that this wouldn't be an easy or fun thing for me to go
through with. They each took turns trying to comfort me, but nothing
they said helped. They would never understand my past and they would
never realize how hard it would be to be put back into it.
" Can I use your phone, Raye?"
" Sure."
" I have to go home. My flight leaves in a few hours. I couldn't
leave without saying goodbye."
I slowly lifted my body off of the floor, even though it felt like
I was carrying the weight of five sumo wrestlers. I craddled the phone
to my ear as I lifted my shaking hand to dial my home number so that
my dad would come to pick me up. Unfortunently, my hand trembled so
much that I couldn't hit the little buttons. I carelessly let the
phone drop to the floor as I slid down the wall until I was curled
up on the floor with my face buried into my knees. Amy quickly came
over and called my parents while the others gathered around, stroking
my long hair and curling their heads next to mine. I seriously had no
idea how I would ever be able to leave such good friends like these.
***
" The plane will be landing in ten minutes..." the pilot announced
over the loud speaker system. It was followed by the current weather
conditions and flight connection gates, but I ignored all of that.
I opened the box that I had resting on my lap and looked inside. The
card, stationary, comminicator, stuffed kitten, and phone card still
sat inside, as it had for the last few hours. I couldn't stop myself
from taking a peek inside every few minutes to make sure that
everything was still there. At the airport back in Japan, the scouts
and my parents said their last goodbyes before sending me on my way
to England. The scouts had presented me with this box and made me
promise to call them as soon as I had settled in. At the same time,
I also made a promise to myself try and be happy and open to whatever
may happen in England.
The plane landed smoothly on the ground a few minutes later. It took
forever to clear the plane out, but I was so relieved to stretch out
my cramped legs that the wait was well worth it. I rushed over to
the luggage area, well aware that Artemis would be grouchy. He hated
being tossed around in the cargo area of planes. I found all of
my luggage and Artemis within a few minutes. Walking out of the
luggage claim, I saw what looked to be a much younger version of
my mother.
" Aunt Clara?" I questioned as I moved closer to the short, blonde
lady dressed in pink. She looked over at me with a humongus smile
as she pulled me into the tightest bear-hug I had ever been put into.
" Is that you, Mina darlin'? You've grown! What's the sister of mine
been feeding you?" she laughed as she took some of my suitcases and
poked a finger into Atremis' cage to scratch his chin. She then led
me out to her bright green car.
" It's so nice to have you staying with us, Mina! Franky and I are
really gonna enjoy having you!"
" How is Uncle Franky?"
" Oh, he's quite good for an old timer (laughs). His hairs growin'
thin, but you didn't hear that from me (winks)."
Aunt Clara continued talking non stop the entire ride to her home.
I couldn't help but smile as she told me everything about her life.
She was so carefree, the total opposite of my stressed and forever
yelling mother. Maybe this won't be so bad after all I thought to
myself as she pulled into a long driveway.
The house was too big for just two people to be living in. It was
two stories tall and painted brown. The inside had a beige theme
to it that was nice and relaxing. Uncle Franky threw open the front
door to greet us and help with the bags. He too embraced me in a
big hug. As soon as we had gotten everything inside, Uncle Franky
grabbed my arm and dragged me upstairs.
" You'll have plenty of time to explore the house later. Let's go
check out your room, shall we?" he laughed excitedly. When we
reached the end of the staircase, he opened a door at the end of
the hall. The room was painted in light orange and the bed was
made up with orange sheets and tons of fluffy pillows. On the bed
laid a box with a butterfly pattern on it. " You have to check
out the balcony," my Uncle said as he threw back the curtains and
pulled open the door. We both stepped out. A small table and chair
were set out already. The view was a grassy hill with a playground
on it while the ocean filled the background. " Ain't it sorta
pretty? I love the ocean in the background. You should go visit it
sometime soon," he said as he sat down in the metal chair. Looking
around, I noticed that the houses around here were pretty close
together. " Let's head back in," Uncle Franky said as he heaved
himself up and walked back inside.