Princess Amy lay on her back in bed, staring up at the ceiling – which she had recently altered to look exactly like the nighttime sky – as she tried to fall asleep. Outside of her room, everything was quiet in the Crystal Palace, and her eyes began to lazily drift shut. Suddenly there was a very loud baby cry, followed by light pouring in from the room next to her and a small curse with a "what in the world does she want now?" She chuckled a bit. Rini had just been born, and Darien and Serena were having a bit of trouble adjusting. As one of the many Godmothers to the baby, and probably the only one that was awake so late into the night, she decided to get up and help.
Tip-toeing to the room of the King and Queen, she knocked lightly on the door. The talking stopped, but the crying did not. The door was suddenly thrown open by a very exasperated looking Serena, who's long blonde hair was falling down her back out of it's normal pigtail style. From behind her she saw Darien who was holding Rini, anxiously bouncing her up and down as he sang her a soft lullaby. She smiled at the sight of the happy family.
"Amy, thank goodness you're here!" Serena exclaimed, grabbing her wrist and pulling her inside of their room. "Rini won't stop crying, we can't figure out what's the matter!" Amy gingerly took the baby from Darien's arms and looked down into its little face. It was hard to believe that this was going to someday become the pink-haired girl they were all so familiar with.
"Have you tried feeding her?" Amy asked, looking up from the baby and at the two very tired faces of its parents, which were blank in shock.
"Er… no, we didn't think of that." Darien admitted. Amy chuckled a bit. They were both so tired they couldn't even think straight.
"Tell you what. You two get a goodnight sleep; I'll stay up with Rini and take care of her for tonight. You need the rest." Serena looked very happy to comply, but Darien said anything before she could, shooting her a glance.
"No, that's ok Amy. She's our daughter, and you need your sleep too." He told her.
"I really don't mind. I don't sleep much anyhow… and you both look so tired." She could see Darien's defenses lowering, and she continued. "Please, let me take care of her. I really don't mind. I can sleep in tomorrow." She grinned. Sighing, Darien nodded slightly.
"Ok Amy, you win this time, but only because I'm so… tired…" He yawned. "Thank you." Amy nodded.
"You're welcome. Goodnight Darien, Serena." With that she took the sobbing baby and left the room, heading for the royal kitchens. Entering it, she was surprised to find she wasn't the only one there. Lita sat at a small table, eating a piece of cheesecake, and Setsuna was making herself a cup of coffee. Lita raised her hand in greeting, and Setsuna turned and smiled.
"So you've got the little noise maker, eh Amy?" Setsuna asked, walking over to tickle Rini's chin. Rini laughed when she did this, and Amy felt her heart melt.
"Yes… was she keeping you both up?" Setsuna and Lita exchanged glances, each letting out a short chuckle.
"Yeah, that's the reason we're up so late at night." Lita told her, taking another bite of her cheesecake.
Handing the baby to Setsuna Amy said, "Here, take her a minute please. I need to warm up a bottle for her." Setsuna took her happily, looking down into the pink-red eyes that she knew so well. Amy headed over for one of the many refrigerators, opening it and looking around its contents before pulling out a large jug of milk. She then reached up to one of the cupboards and brought from it a small baby's bottle.
Suddenly, Mina entered the kitchen, looking quite awake, and tiptoeing as if she didn't want to be seen. The three girls turned to look at her strangely, and when she saw that she was spotted, she stood up straight and laughed nervously.
"Oh, hello. I didn't know you were here! I'm just, um… well, I was just… er…" She stuttered. The three girls cocked one eyebrow and she sighed in defeat. "I was going to get a midnight snack. The cheesecake the chef served for dessert was so good I just had to have some more…" She looked over and saw that Lita was already eating some, and chuckled. "Guess I wasn't the only one."
"It's in the second refrigerator to the left." Lita told her, grinning.
"Thanks." Mina replied, grinning as well. "So, why is everyone else up?"
"Baby." All three replied, and Mina noticed that Setsuna was holding Rini. She laughed at this, then walked over to pat Rini's head affectionately before heading for the second refrigerator to the left. The microwave buzzer suddenly went off, and Amy removed the baby bottle from it. She tested it on her arm quickly, making sure it was the right temperature, before taking the now sniffing baby from Setsuna's arms and beginning to feed it.
"I need coffee." Amara moaned, coming into the kitchen followed by Michelle. Both looked very tired, as if they hadn't slept at all that night.
"What's keeping you up?" Setsuna inquired from her place leaning against one of the many counters, sipping her own cup of coffee.
"Your boyfriend, actually Mina." Michelle said turning with tired eyes toward Mina. "You wouldn't think a mortal could snore so loud." Mina, whose mouth was full of cheesecake, giggled.
"Yes, Andrew does snore a bit loud." She admitted, then sighed. "But he sure is cute." All the girls rolled their eyes at this, and Amy nudged her with her elbow. She was still holding Rini, who was barely making a sound. "I'm just so glad that Serena could bless him with the power of the Silver Crystal so that he could live as long as us." Mina said happily, giving the peace symbol to no one in particular. Amy and Lita nodded in agreement, each thinking about their own boyfriends, Greg and Ken, who were asleep upstairs.
"Hey, pour me some of that coffee, will you Setsuna?" Amara said, taking a seat across from Lita at the small table. "Hey, that cheesecake looks good. Is there any left?"
"Second refrigerator to the left." Mina and Lita said in unison, throwing each other a quick glance. Raising from her seat, Amara went to go get some of the precious cheesecake as well, while Michelle took Rini from Amy's arms and finished feeding her. Amy, who appeared very interested in the cheesecake almost everyone was now eating, took this opportunity to head over to the sacred refrigerator as well.
"You know… it's kind of strange." Everyone turned to look at Lita. "I mean, we're all awake, at this time of night, and in the kitchen. What are the odds of that?" They all laughed a bit. "I mean, all we need now are Ray and Hotaru, and we'll all be here." She grinned.
Just at that moment, Ray entered the kitchen, holding Hotaru's hand.
"One glass of warm milk, and then you have to go to bed, ok Hotaru?"
"Ok Ray." The two scouts looked up at that moment to notice that, not only were they not the only ones there, but that almost everyone was eating cheesecake. They both cocked one eyebrow, looking around at everyone, and Ray then grinned.
"Well, I see that we're not the only ones that couldn't get to sleep." She said. "What's your case?"
"Snoring." Amara replied, taking a sip of the coffee that Setsuna had just handed her.
"Midnight snack." Mina replied, taking a bite of her cheesecake.
"Rini." Lita said simply, leaning back in her chair. "You?"
"I'm not sure. I just couldn't sleep, so I got up to check up on Serena, Darien and Rini and found Hotaru… she had a nightmare and was looking for you three…" she motioned toward Setsuna, Amara and Michelle, "but when she couldn't find you she went looking for someone else to talk to." Amara grinned sheepishly and walked over to take Hotaru's hand.
"I'm sorry, Hotaru. Here, I'll get you that warm milk Ray was promising." She promised, heading toward one of the refrigerators as Hotaru took a seat where Amara had previously been sitting.
"Ok, Amara." Hotaru replied, then looked at Amy smiling. "Ooh, cheesecake!" She exclaimed. Amy looked around at all her friends, smiling. She was truly happy. The scouts were destined to be together – she couldn't even take care of Rini for one night by herself. But she didn't mind. She had had plenty of her share of loneliness in her life. She would never be lonely again.
~
"We stayed up all night talking." Amy recalled, as Rini sat in front of her listening intently.
"And all because of me." Rini giggled, looking embarrassed. Amy smiled. She had grown so much since then she was barely recognizable. Now she was that little pink-haired girl that had first landed on Serena's head hundreds of years ago.
"Some day you may be down in that kitchen like we were, Rini." Amy told her. "Only with different people. It may not be so far away that you will be there with Hotaru and the four asteroid senshi. Rini looked up at her, smiling.
"I can't wait."
~
Sorry, I know it's short but it was just something I wrote in my spare time for fun, and I would really appreciate it if you would review and let me know what you think. Thanks!