Chapter 3: The Horse We Came In On
"Out...of...breath...AGAIN!" I thought I left Mina's studio in plenty of time, but the rest of the hour went by so fast that I had to high-tail it the rest of the way. But here I am, late anyway! I sure hope I'm not becoming a major flake like Serena. Oh well...even she was able to squeak through high school. I landed on my knees - the ground was a lot softer here for some reason - and dumped Mina's water bottle all over my head. OK Mina, you were right. Coffee wouldn't have been as useful if I had gotten that instead...
A few nicely-dressed grownups, some arm-in-arm, paused to stare at me as they were walking by. And then I finally looked down at the surprisingly soft ground that was cushioning my knees. Well, it wasn't grass. It was a fancy red carpet...
"AH! OOPS!" I squealed and jumped back on my feet. Oh no, it was rolled out in front of Lita's culinary school and I got it all wet! I made myself look like a giant fool in front of her classmates' guests! If I hadn't known, I would gone right by Lita's school without giving it a second thought. It was just a plain brick building.
Well, it didn't look like anything special on the outside, but it sure looked nice when I walked through those doors. Lita's class was out to make us all look like royalty. Except I felt like the one out of place here. The guys were wearing suits and the ladies were wearing fancy gowns...and I looked like I just waltzed in for a bite to eat straight after school.
"Last name?" The greeter who met me inside the hall must have been one of Lita's classmates. Like Serena and Mina, he had blonde hair - not as long, of course - and blue eyes, plus he wore a red jacket over his white shirt and tie. He almost looked like a parking valet instead. He didn't take his eyes of his sheet once to even glance at me...maybe he was just shy. Well, I wasn't.
"I'm with Lita!" Barely able to contain my own excitement, I smiled at him and held my eyes shut while handing him the printout Raye gave me earlier. "Her other friends couldn't make it, but I was in the neighborhood! I don't think she even knows I'm here yet, so I want to keep it a surprise!"
"Lita? We don't hear first names very often, but I recognize hers. Not a name you hear very often." The greeter did brighten up a bit now that we had a conversation going. My mom and Plu both said I had that effect on people. "I haven't really talked to her though, she's with the mediocre chefs."
"EXCUSE ME?!" THAT little side note sent my mood in a hundred-eighty degree turn! "You DON'T know Lita if you think her food's mediocre! That, or she's too busy to serve you a slice of humble pie! I can feed you some!"
"You misunderstand! "Mediocre" is one of the best compliments our teacher can give! He's divvies us up before every service - the mediocre ones are the only ones he trusts to cook!" I backed off when he awkwardly flailed his arms about as if he expected me to lunge at him. "The rest of us are pond scum and...well, you're too young to hear what else he calls us anyway, but he sticks those of us in need of improvement in the dining room. Which means...odds are you won't see your friend in the dining room tonight."
"You mean at all?!" Seeing Raye and Mina was one thing, but Lita wouldn't invite us to something where she couldn't even see us! "Isn't there some kind of behind-the-scenes tour, later?"
"Your friend hasn't talked about Chef very much has she?" The greeter walked me into the dining room where when the guests behind me started grumbling about the wait. "Chef absolutely HATES it when customers interrupt him in the middle of service. We've got service, then clean-ups and evaluations...hate to say it, but you might not see her until after midnight."
"I can't stay here that late!" I whimpered loudly. There's no way Mama Ikuko would let me! There had to be SOME way to draw Lita out here. "Can't she take a break early of something? There's a law saying you have to get breaks, right?"
"Mmmm...Chef said we're going into the wrong business for that. Nothing I can really do. Sorry." Lita's classmate pulled my seat out for me to sit in and lay the menu down at my table, then went back to his spot in the hall. As the dining room started to fill in, I spied with my little eye the kitchen in back. There was an open space where I could see one cook in a black jacket bossing around more students Lita's age. He sure looked mean, but I wasn't gonna let that stop me...
I tried not to bump into anyone on my way to the counter for a closer look. I couldn't see Lita among the younger students...either she drastically cut her hair, or she tucked it away under her brimmed white hat. I did cringe a little when her instructor saw me...but his eyes past over me like I was a fly on the windshield of Darien's car and he went back to barking orders at the class. Did cooking really require this much yelling, or was Serena secretly taking this class with Lita?
Well, he's not paying attention to me. I'll just have to do this the hard way. I jumped up and clung to the edge of the counter to pull myself over so they could see me for sure. I still wasn't quite as tall as I wanted to be yet. Over all the hustle and bustle, I yelled "excuse me please!"
Too bad for me. That nasty old teacher was the only one who seemed to notice me. He pointed to his right and shouted "restroom's that way, powder puff!"
"POWDER PUFF?!" I couldn't help repeating him out loud. I shook my head and yelled back at him:"Mind if I check in with my friend for like two seconds? Before you get really busy?"
"Yes, I do mind." Lita's classmate wasn't kidding...their teacher's scrunched-up face reminded me of the Grinch from that American Christmas cartoon I saw when I was little. "This isn't a meet and greet. Scurry back to your table before I put "head of flamingo" on the menu."
I stuck my tongue out at him the instant he turned his back before I dropped off the counter and went stomping back to my table. First Mina, and now Lita! Why'd they both choose to work for a grumpy pair of sourpusses?! I dropped back into my chair and stared up at the ceiling, trying to think how I might get Lita into the dining room and rain on that jerk's parade at the same time. The gray circular things in the roof over my head drew my eye. Sprinkler heads...Darien pointed them out when we went to dinner one night. Hmm, pulling the fire alarm would get both done...but I didn't want to ruin Lita's night too. Besides, I heard when someone at my school tried pulling the fire alarm at school, he was caught because the handle was covered in some kind of blue dye he couldn't get off his hands in time. Although, maybe he just got caught on camera.
Two tables down, I saw a guest flag over a serving student and hold up a plate of salad. Ick, I wasn't a big fan of salads. "Excuse me. My salad has way too much dressing, and it looks like a pile of mush. Can you fetch whoever made this? I'd rather tell them in person than write a bad review."
"I'll fetch him right away," her server promised. HE meant no hope that my wish had just been answered, but it was an idea. With no sign of my own server approaching, I slipped my bunny backpack under the table and unzipped it. Oh, hey Luna P! Future Mercury was right...it's amazing how much I can stuff in here just by clearing out the air! No magic needed! With some digging, I found just what I was looking for...a purple knit scarf and a pair of sunglasses. Not sure why I brought these with me in the first place, but the last time I saw a show with someone complaining in a restaurant here, she wore something like this...
Another one of Lita's classmates came by in a suit and jacket with a glass and basket. Either he was really impressed with my new look, or he thought I was being weird. "I, uh...brought you some bread and water while you look over the menu. You get one from each section free. Know what you want yet?" My itchy fingers dove straight for the bread and I crammed a roll into my mouth. It was soft and fluffy as a pillow, except it tasted way better! I felt so bad about spitting out the piece I was chewing so my plan would work.
"It's hard as a rock!" I lied.
"All the bread was baked fresh this morning. I think," my server stammered.
"Doesn't taste like it to me!" I threw the rest of my roll back in with the others. "Whoever baked this, I wanna talk to her!"
The server's eyes crinkled. "How did you know who - "
"Have you heard the phrase "the customer is always right," before?!" I cut him off and crossed my arms. "I thought dining was supposed to be an experience!"
"I'll...see if I can get her for you. I can get you a new basket..."
"No, just get me a bowl of soup to dunk it in." I shrugged and pretended to be very huffy over the whole thing...though deep down I was so happy he let me keep the bread for later, I didn't want to waste it. Another student Lita's age, a girl this time, came up to my table a minute later. Not Lita though...RATS!
"I'm sorry the bread didn't come out right." The girl bowed. "Anything I can do to fix it?"
Aww, I didn't want to make her feel bad with my pretend criticism, and I didn't want to hurt her grade either. With my server busy at another table, I saw my chance to take it back. "Nothing! The bread was perfect! Keep making it like that!"
"Oh...m-maybe I'm at the wrong table, but thank you!" She bumped into my server, on his way back to my table with the promised bowl of soup. They both looked confused over the whole thing.
"I brought you tomato basil." The server offered me a bowl and stuck around for my opinion. How'd they make tomato soup taste so good?
"How do you mess up something as easy tomato soup?!" Grudgingly, I spat my spoonful back into the bowl. "I'll get a salad instead, and I want a woman to make it after I talk to whoever let this bowl of blandness slide!"
"I...don't know if I could just put someone on another station - " My server mouthed wordlessly for a few seconds after I glared at him through my tinted lenses. "Right, customer's always right! I'll see what I can do!"
Back into the kitchen he ran and another student came my way. BUT IT STILL WASN'T LITA! Before she could say a word, I blurted, "what do you put in the soup to make it taste so good? I could eat this every day!"
"Just, um, cheese, some butter..." The latest cook-in-training drew her eyes on the cue card partly hidden underneath my napkin. "Oh! You know you're allowed to leave comments on the card, right? Not that we don't love the compliments, but if you want to ask for the recipe you can just leave the info."
"Oh, silly me! Guess I need a new prescription!" I laughed. Hopefully I didn't get her twice, she'd figure out what I was up to soon enough. My server hadn't seemed to catch on yet...
"Brought you a caesar salad. Made by one of my female classmates, just like you asked." He had the same frazzled and confused look on his face that Serena had when she was doing math homework or looking for Tuxedo Mask to bail her out of troubles. Bleh, normally I wouldn't order vegetables when I had so many better choices! But my salad looked like it had been arranged by an artist, it MUST have been Lita's. Ugh...she shredded carrots on top!
"This looks just like the mess I saw in the dining room earlier!" Sorry, but I really didn't want to eat those carrots. "It looks like somebody just dropped ingredients into a bowl and mixed them together! Take it back!"
"But that's how salads are made." Another glare stopped my server mid-mumble. He groaned "I'll see if I can get her for you..."
"YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY, CALLING HALF MY CHEFS INTO THE DINING ROOM?!" Even though Lita's teacher screeched all the way from the kitchen two minutes later, I could hear him as if he was yelling into my ear. For now, it sounded like my poor server was getting it, though I couldn't be very far behind. Sweat trickled down my forehead when Lita's teacher, nearly twice my size, charged into the dining room with my server close behind. Keep your cool, maybe he's not as scary as he looks. No way he'll recognize me with these on!
"Oh, it's you! Your friend's still busy, but maybe I could properly align your napkin with the hundred-fortieth meridian east? Or cut the crust off your PB and J sandwich?" Wow, he sounded like he could be Serena's twin separated at birth.
"I think she wanted to go right to dessert." I clamped my hands over my mouth to avoid squealing Lita's name when I heard her voice from behind the teacher. When he swung around, there she was with an extra-large slice of chocolate cake. Oh Lita, if you could only remember one thing about me, it would be that I LOVE chocolate!
"Did you serve your brain to one of the guests, or do you think I'm running a daycare for dining room divas?!" Of course, Lita's teacher had to rain on the sweets parade. "Dessert comes LAST, you donut!"
I really, REALLY wanted to kick one of his shins but that might hurt Lita's grade if I hadn't already, so I held my breath and puffed my cheeks instead.
"Give me five minutes and that'll be the last you hear from her. Promise, Chef." Lita pleaded. I knew Lita wasn't saying that to be mean...at least, I hoped not.
Lita's teacher hissed into her ear: "you're lucky I have a daughter her age. Five minutes." He opened his hand in her face to hammer in his point before he left us alone. There was complete silence between me and Lita for a minute: I thought she might want to snap at me for putting her grade in danger. But she smiled and rubbed the top of my head.
"Don't mind my teacher, he's just used to playing himself up for the cameras." She looked a little older...her face had the same glow the Sailor Scouts of the future, but other than that even her hair was still the same. Of course, she STILL towered over me.
"I wanted to surprise you." A little disappointed, I dropped my shades on to the table and stuffed my scarf back into my bag.
"Yeah, "flamingo head" was a dead giveaway," Lita teased. "I was already working on a plan to bust out of there, but you beat me to it!"
Thinking back to Chef calling me a flamingo head made me a little sad, now that we didn't have to worry about him any more. Serena called me that all the time. "I think leaving was a big mistake. Everyone's so distant now."
"This isn't even close to being your fault, Rini. Even before Serena left, it was rough to get the whole gang together because one of us couldn't make it." Lita stuck her tongue out at me then playfully hit my shoulder...though it hurt more than I let on. "But hey, tonight I'm just happy SOMEBODY made it! Now, cheer up and dig in already!" Lita's eyes seemed to grow as wide as the plate I was eating her cake off of. "So, am I any closer to being as good as Mama Ikuko yet?"
"Lita..." I laughed through my chewing. Oh, you were always neck-and-neck with Mama Ikuko, Lita! Way too close for me to call!
"One great thing about this class, Chef's numbing me to criticism!" Lita teased...as much as I wished she wouldn't joke about it. "Come on, it's OK to tell me I'm not on her level yet!"
"I never said that..." I took another bite of her delicious cake to make my point. If only I had some lemon pie to go with it...
If Lita leaned in any closer to me, her nose would be touching mine. "Give me SOME kind of feedback! Anything!"
"You don't need culinary school! You're the best chef under this roof and you know it!" There! Came out and said it!
"That's nice of you to say..." Lita smiled gently...and shook her head. "Even if you're just avoiding the question!"
"I'm serious!" I set down my fork on the few crumbs left of Lita's dessert. "I wish you and Mina found nicer bosses."
"Really? The way Mina's boss dances on stage like a maniac? I'm shocked Mina hasn't proposed yet!" Lita's cheer faded when she saw I didn't smile. "I thought Mina was too excited for the gig, even going by Mina standards. But her boss is a walking success story, and so is mine...he owns FIVE restaurants!"
"Isn't just one enough?" I asked Lita sincerely.
"It is, but...it's not just about being a good cook, Rini." Lita looked pretty uncomfortable explaining. "There's lots of math involved that'll make your head spin. You need money, and you need to get the word around, then you've gotta pick the best spot and know what the local tastes are - "
"Is dessert before dinner custom in the future, Rini?" I rocketed out of my chair mid-talk when a third voice joined us, one I'd been looking forward to hearing since before I came in...
"DARIEN! YOU'RE HERE!" I jumped right into his shoulders, wrapped my legs around his waist, and buried my face into his pink shirt. At least I wasn't the only one not dressed up now. I must have caught Darien off guard, because he almost stumbled backwards into the table behind us. "Oh, sorry!"
"I should have been prepared! You're a lot bigger than I was last time!" Nothing made my day like Darien noticing that I was growing up. I still saw my dad taking off his mask to remind me he was the same man I was hugging now, just older and wiser. But it was the little differences between him and Darien that made me miss them so much between centuries...the way Darien would flick his hand and greet me with "hey Rini" instead of calling me Princess, always being around to help me with my homework every afternoon, offering me his ice cream cone at the park when I dropped mine, and sipping down hot chocolate in his apartment in front of his big screen TV. We didn't do those things in Crystal Tokyo anymore...Dad was still the best, in his own way. But Darien was, too.
"Sorry I'm a little late. Traffic was brutal." You don't need to apologize, Darien...I'm sure Lita's just as happy as I am that you showed up. "There were camera crews swarming all over the studio Mina works. I heard today's show took a really bizarre turn during filming."
"I didn't even know you were coming." Lita didn't sound thrilled to see him at all. Her voice was a lot colder, like she was expecting a punch in the face.
"I didn't mean to crash." Darien came back just as defensively. "Mina just called me on the phone."
"Really? I thought you might have lost your phone." Lita sounded like she was almost growling at him.
"MEDIOCRE M-I-A!" Somehow, that teacher's voice always made it through to the dining room, even from the middle of the kitchen, unlike mine. He made Lita glance down at her wristwatch. Out of time...just like Raye and Mina.
"I've gotta run, but I can take your orders back," offered Lita. She must have noticed me frowning because she quickly added, "Chef might let me bring your stuff over."
"Don't go to any trouble for me, Lita." Darien offered her half a smile...but Lita's eyes narrowed even more.
"Darien..." Lita stood directly over him and started leaning in. "We're being graded as a class. Chef's gonna wonder why you didn't order anything and it'll sink everybody."
"I'm sure he wasn't trying to be rude, Lita!" I pleaded. Lita relaxed and let her arms hang by her sides. She wasn't mad at him because he showed up unannounced...
"Fine," Darien sighed and leaned into me instead. "Why don't you order first, Rini?" I'd almost forgotten in all the excitement...
"COOOFFFFEEEEEEEEEEE! OR, OOOH! HOW ABOUT CAPPUCCINO?" I squealed with delight. Cappuccino has caffeine in it too, right? I opened my eyes to see Darien, Lita, and all the guests sitting in a cone behind them staring. OK, maybe I sounded a bit too excited about it.
"How about we both get hot chocolate instead?" Darien suggested. He even got Lita nodding along with him now. "Just like we always get!"
"But I just had chocolate!" I pouted. I knew what he was really doing...I was old enough to drink coffee now! But then he started looking at me with those big blue eyes of his. "Oh, alright..." I sank further into my chair.
"I can get another bowl of that soup." Darien grabbed my tossed-up salad and stuck a fork on it. Thanks for clearing away those vegetables for me, Darien! "Do you mind if we share the rest? I'm really not that hungry!"
"Don't worry about your grade, Lita! I can eat enough for both of us!" I cheered.
"As if I could forget! You look like you could eat a horse right now!" Lita watched Darien facepalm after she said it, then her own eyes grew wide. "Oh, I didn't mean - sorry, Rini!"
"It's OK." I stared down at my half-finished soup. So much for being able to eat...a whole lot.
"Why don't I...come back later?" Lita stumbled back towards the kitchen with a curt nod from Darien. Even though Plu didn't want me spilling every little detail about their future lives in Crystal Tokyo, I guess I'd have to tell them sooner or later that Pegasus still hadn't come back to see me.
"Expecting more company, Rini?" Darien noticed I was looking over my shoulder.
"No. I thought the girls might have gotten better at spying while I was gone. But they really are that busy." I almost wanted Serena to barge in and start crabbing at me over hogging Darien. I took for granted that she and the girls would always be here when I came back.
Darien pulled me out of my daydream with a gentle tap, so I went on to ask him how it got like this. "I dropped by Raye's first. She said nobody drops by her Temple anymore. Not even you."
"It has been a long time since I passed by. Maybe I should ask how her Grandpa is doing." Darien only took two bites out of the salad the whole time were talking.
"She said he was sleeping when I came by, but she's so stubborn about asking for help. I don't think Mina's happy either." I sat on my hands to dangle my legs over the carpeted floor. "What happened between you and Serena, Darien? Were you just busy too, or did something else happen?"
Instead of answering me, Darien crossed his arms and snickered. "So, they're trying to get you in on it too, huh?"
"In on what?" What did he mean by that? Before I could ask, Lita was on her way back with Darien's soup and two hot chocolates.
"See, Rini? Told you Chef was a big softie deep down!" I was happy enough for some more chocolate -AS MUCH AS I WANTED COFFEE - but Lita had just switched moods with Darien.
"Whatever scheme you're cooking up, leave Rini out of it." Whatever Darien was getting at, his choice of words startled me a bit. Even as the King, I rarely saw him get this stern with anybody. Let alone his friends.
Lita kept her smile up. She looked totally clueless too. "Relax, I'm not looking for guinea pigs! I would have thought Serena's cooking gave you an iron stomach - "
"Don't talk about my relationship with Serena, and don't involve Rini in your meddling!" Darien ignored all my tries to get his attention and keep him from blurting out accusations towards Lita. The last time he was acting like this, an evil mirror was controlling him!
"Raye, Mina, and Lita barely said anything about you and Serena, Darien!" I stood out of my chair, trying to bring him back down to Earth. "I was asking for myself, I swear!"
"It's not like you even gave us the opportunity, Darien!" Lita pounded her fists on the table. "You think Raye and I didn't notice you stick your tail between your legs and walk the other way, pretending you didn't see either of us? Then when we tried calling, you read straight from you list of canned excuses to hang up on us before you just stopped answering the phone!"
"You have nothing to worry about, Rini. Serena and I are taking some time apart so we can plan out our futures together." Darien reached over to touch my hand, but he grimaced when he noticed Lita shaking her head. "You're just making Rini more upset."
"We're ALL upset Serena's not here." Lita snarled back. "And to think, we were actually worrying about you!"
"Oh, right! You three were *worried* about me!" Darien made quotation marks in the air with his fingers as he said 'worried'. "Serena and I never broke up! She made the decision to go to America herself, just like Amy left to study in Germany!"
"Amy's wanted to go to med school in Germany since we were fourteen! Serena never would have left if you hadn't started playing her hot and cold again by ending the engagement without the tiniest hint!" Lita shot back. "Sounds to me like you did it because you're chicken, Darien!"
"Lita, stop! Just let him explain!" I begged with half the dining room staring at us.
"Oh, did you chicken out on your dream, too?" Darien spat. "If real life's so easy, what's taking YOU so long to open that restaurant, Miss Mediocre?"
"Darien!" I looked back Lita's way pleadingly. "He doesn't mean that, Lita."
"I don't care, Rini. I know he didn't come here for me." Lita bitterly stared Darien down. "You know, after six years, I almost forgot how often I thought about reshaping your boringly perfect jawline!"
"HEY, DONUT!" There was Lita's teacher, swaggering into the dining hall again. "No, stay there! Keep entertaining my diners for free! But leave your jacket on the way out and don't bother coming back to class!"
"Dining room's the last place I want to be right now..." Lita tore herself away from the table and turned her back on Darien.
Darien dragged his coat from the back of his chair. "I'll drop you off at home, Rini."
"FORGET IT!" I screeched at both of them. "I'LL WALK HOME BY MYSELF!"
I heard Lita's teacher sigh 'thank god' but I didn't care about him. I stomped all the way out of the dining room, before Lita swung around and planted herself in my way.
"You can't walk home all by yourself, not at this hour." Now Lita could see what pleading on deaf ears felt like. I knew it was Darien walking in behind me, but I wouldn't even look at him. "Please, let Darien take you home. Or, I can call - "
"No wonder Amy and Serena went halfway around the world to get away from you guys!" I balled my own fists at Lita. "I'm already sorry I came back!"
Finally, Lita's glare cracked and she looked up to Darien. "I shouldn't have brought up Serena. For what it's worth, I hope you work things out. But it's your business."
"I take back what I said. I'm sorry, I won't bring it back up." Darien stayed behind me and gave me a bear hug from where he was standing. "I know how confusing all of this must be for you. But you have my undivided attention on the way home. We'll get you up to speed on everything."
Lita reached under his arms and tickled my side. "Still buddies?" I reached for her hand underneath. I was definitely worried about her cross-armed teacher behind him, but maybe it was a good sign he wasn't throwing her out.
"Come on..." Darien smiled when I did look up at him. "It's already past ten. We'd better get you home to Mama Ikuko..."
IT WAS ALREADY AFTER TEN?! SHOOT!
Darien apologized in advance for taking me home in the same "piece-of-junk" red sports car in the parking lot. I didn't see anything wrong until he revved the engine. It was a whole lot louder than it used to be. Every time he sputtered, he grumbled lots of words under his breath that I never heard before. Darien mentioned that his mechanic friend, Natsumi, made her dream of fixing that old classic car come true but then she moved to make a career out of fixing other old cars. Darien also told me what happened to the team after he left...that he got on the plane to America but it never landed. A fallen Sailor Scout in golden armor, Galaxia, attacked him and took his Star Seed away...like our dreams, we all had a Star Seed, but the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask had special ones. Poor Serena was left to wonder why Darien never answered her messages...and he grumbled about some other guy she got close to while he was gone. All the other Sailor Scouts...Hotaru too...lost their Star Seeds trying to save everyone, but Sailor Moon redeemed Galaxia and saved the day, like she always did. But even he had trouble explaining why things didn't go back to normal after.
"I'm so sorry I left when I did." I sank in the sideseat. Not far to the house now. "If I knew you still needed my help - "
"Don't be sorry. You came here to train with us, and you did." Darien parked in front of the house after mumbling some more bad words at the car he thought I couldn't hear, but he kept a tight grip on the steering wheel. "And I'm relieved you didn't go through what we did. I saw you, and Serena...all the others, and all the things I wouldn't get to do, flash before my eyes. And now...with Serena gone, I'm becoming the person I used to be when I first met her. Not your Prince Charming anymore."
"You are our Prince Charming," I reminded him. "It was never an act."
"Lita has a point." Darien took his keys out of the ignition. "Even after you almost disappeared before our very eyes...I thought Serena and I could just put our futures on hold. That's why I called off our engagement...I felt I had so much to do first. Graduate from Harvard, save up enough money to take care of three instead of one, get this jalopy fixed..." Darien paused when Mama Ikuko threw the front door open and stared at the car with her hands on her hips. "One thing at a time, right?"
"Right..." I hoped Lita sneaking in a call ahead would soften the blow, but I'd never seen Mama Ikuko look so angry at ME before. Serena, yes.
"I asked you not to come home late, and it's almost eleven o'clock!" Mama Ikuko didn't even wait until I was at the doorstep before she laid into me. "I called Dad and he raced back early for your welcome home dinner, only to waste most of the night driving around looking for you! Now he's asleep because he has to take an early shift in the morning to make up the hours!"
"I'm sorry, Mom..." I felt Darien gently rub my shoulder. I wish I could take his hand, but if Papa Ken happened to look out the window, he'd blow a head gasket and chase Darien halfway to Osaka. "I should have called - "
"But you don't have a cellphone! You know what that means: we get to take a trip to Juban Mall tomorrow!" Mama was smiling while she spun around with clasped hands, as if she instantly forgot she was mad at me. But she quickly doubled back down. "I'm still hurt and disappointed you forgot about your family. Darien...thanks for dropping Rini off, but we have to set boundaries while she's here and a curfew is one of them."
"I understand." Darien patted me on the back gently. "Sweet dreams, Rini."
"Goodnight, Darien." If only he could stay a little longer...it we could just call Serena on the phone, talk her into coming back and making everything better.
"While you were away, I set up your bedroom." Mama Ikuko sighed when my stomach growled at the worst time. "And we still have leftovers in the fridge. Including your lemon pie."
"Mama Ikuko...is it OK if I borrow the phone? I want to call Serena and Amy." She took a minute to think about it, but she conceded to my silent plea.
"After you take your bath and eat. You can have one more hour before bed, but no TV." Mama Ikuko started going up the stairs. "We'll finish our talk in the morning, after you apologize to Dad."
"OK." I'm sorry I didn't get to see you tonight, Papa Ken. I really am. "Good night, Mama..."
Mama Ikuko always took such good care of me. My room looked as if I never left...she even laid out my old bed sheets with the bunny and Luna faces on them. I still hadn't seen Luna and Artemis yet...I wondered if they were working extra hard with the Inner Scouts and Darien on leave, what other threats might be out there. Where Hotaru, Trista, Amara and Michelle were... Mama had also laid out one of Serena's old nightgowns for me to wear. Oh well, there's no way my old one would have fit me anymore.
After a bite to eat - and after I snuck just a few minutes of TV - I grabbed the phone and dialed Amy's phone number. I wanted to talk to her first in case I ran out of time...if I had to hang up on someone, it was bound to be meatball head. But one thing I didn't like about the twenty-first century was having all these buttons to press so close to each other. I accidentally pressed the voicemail button instead and had to type Amy's number AGAIN...
"Good morning, Mister and Misses Tsukino. Sorry if I'm calling at a bad time, this is Misses Dziedzic, Serena's academic counselor?" Hold up, I needed to hear this. "We don't usually call the parents regarding our students' academic behavior, but Serena's grades have fallen well below the minimum GPA needed to stay in the international program. I'm trying to help her but she's also been skipping out on our meetings. She's running out of time to turn her grades around...if she fails another subject, we'll have no choice but to remove her from the program and send her home. I know there's not a lot you can do for her at this point, but I wanted to give you a heads up and keep you informed. If there's anything you wish to discuss with me about Serena's progress or our program, feel free to give me a call back. Thank you, bye."
Oh no...Mama Ikuko would blow her top if she found out meatball brain fell back into her old habits. I didn't want her to come back THIS way! I couldn't let her get in trouble!
...Wait, what am I saying? This is SERENA I'm talking about! Like flunking out would be anything new for her!
But look how messed up everything is! Do I really want to risk making everything worse? Maybe Serena will turn it around again. She always came through as Sailor Moon, and everyone's bragging about how much better she's doing - maybe she just hit a rough patch. Darien said he'd call her - one little pep talk from him works miracles!
OK, you win. I pressed the delete button and erased the message. For the third time, I dialed Amy's number and sat through seven rings, only to get an error message...
"The mailbox belonging to Amy Andersen is full and cannot accept new messages at this time. Please try again later. Goodbye."
I never got a message like that before. Amy was always super-focused on studying. Complete opposite of Serena, even the "new and improved" version apparently. There's loads of other ways I can get in touch with Amy in this century...I wonder if they still use "e-mail" or if that's completely antiquated...
But what's the point? She'll just say she's too busy like everybody else.
"Time for bed, Rini!" Mama Ikuko shouted from her bedroom. I pulled round kitty-faced companion out of my backpack and carried her up the stairs. I wouldn't care if Serena was here to laugh at me for bringing Luna-P...I wanted ONE friend at my bedside. It still hurt to look at the top of my dresser and not see Pegasus' globe there.
I brought Luna-P into bed with me, and squeezed Plu's Space-Time Key in my hand. Maybe...I should think about just going home. I let my necklace fall down into my nighties, hugged Luna-P, and closed my eyes. Three years back in Crystal Tokyo, dreaming about the day I came back to the twenty-first century and surprised all my friends. Who knew the real thing would turn out so crummy.
"Rini..."
"Huh?" My eyes lazily drifted open after a voice woke me up. I didn't feel Luna-P in my arms anymore...she must have rolled onto the floor while I was sleeping. "Papa Ken?"
"Sailor Mini Moon..." That same voice again. A man's voice. No way that was Papa Ken calling me...
"Darien?" With a little more urgency, I sat up and lifted my window open. No one in the street below...instead, I was greeted by a strange moon, glowing like the sun and so large it looked like it was about to crash into the Earth. I hadn't seen that since...
"PEGASUS?!" The sound of a horse's faint neigh in the distance cleared away any last doubts I had. HELIOS! It was him! He was here! HE FINALLY CAME BACK!
I was surprised to hear the tap of shoe soles when my feet landed on the ground. I was wearing the same dress from earlier today, along with my socks and shoes! This must be a dream...I left my shoes at the door, like always. I threw my clothes in the laundry and wore Serena's night gown to bed. But it didn't matter! Just the thought of seeing Pegasus again, even if this wasn't really happening, even if it wasn't really him...it had been so long since I had even seen him as an image in my dreams! And if it really was him...he could see me as I was when he left, how much I had grown since then...
I ran down the stairs of an empty house, no Mama or Papa or Sammy yelling for me to get back into bed, and followed the distant neighs through the winding roads of Tokyo. Just like our first dream together...as if we were reliving the very first time we met. I didn't care how fast I ran this time. My legs didn't hurt, and I had enough breath to run forever if that's how long it took to see the Crystal woods again.
And there they were, exactly how I remembered: clear crystals lined neatly alongside the green shrubs and magnificent trees. The darkness of night had given way to an aurora in the sky, the colors of the rainbow all blending into one. And there he was, standing on the lake, the figure of a majestic white unicorn with the golden horn and his wings stretched outwards. Pegasus...Helios...it had been years, but he kept his promise.
"I traveled so far...I waited so long...to see your light again..." I felt my face glowing red, and heard my own heart pounding so loudly along the same beats as his voice.
"Me too..." My own voice came out as a quiet whisper, like I was trying to speak while the rest of my body was still asleep. "I thought about you every day. I knew you'd never forget me."
My face burned in an all-out blush when he looked at me with those radiant, piercing red ovals of his from an ever-closing distance. All I wanted now was to reach out and touch him again...to prove to myself he was really back. "But all is...not as it appears, Rini..."
"No..." I felt the color drain from my face after Pegasus uttered the words I dreaded to hear. "This IS the Crystal Forest, exactly the way I remembered it!" Just as quickly, my panic gave way to pleading. "Just tell me if it's really you." The pace of my breathing grew faster as Pegasus' mane drew closer to my fingertips. "Please. I have to know..."
Just when I felt the tip of his gentle hair, all but proving to me this really WAS happening, a massive crack split open the grass underneath my feet. The gulf between me and Pegasus widened and the ground under him rose into the bittersweet sky, denying me just one more look. "PEGASUS!" I screamed his name, desperate to grab hold of the cliff so I could climb later. But my own plateau tilted at an angle, and left me sliding in the opposite direction. The forest's beauty gave way to bleak, heartless stone-like walls. How could fate be so cruel to us again? Brought together just to be ripped apart again...
I looked to the ruined walls separating me from Pegasus, circling me like some kind of ancient stadium. I'll climb over them if that's what it takes. But I leaped backwards and yelped when I almost tripped over something even more disturbing...several bodies lying on the ground, all covered in various furs. I did breath a sigh of relief when I saw the chest of the one lying in front of me was still rising up and down...but their energy had been completely sucked dry. "What happened to all of you?" I wondered out loud. Some of them had weapons lying next to them...axes that looked like they were just carved from stone, and poles lacking the elegance of the staffs you would find in Crystal Tokyo.
I was answered from a wisp of black smoke that sent me into a coughing fit as it swirled together in front of me, taking the shape of a hooded person. Whoever they were, their robes looked just like Wiseman's...I cringed at the thought he came back to torture me. But he was gone for good...it wasn't him. It couldn't be. I thought being shorter would be an advantage here, make it easier to peek into their hood...but he or she had no face, no eyes, no features of any kind. It was like staring into the deepest and darkest of black holes.
I put on the bravest face I could and took hold of my brooch...though all the bodies lying in front of me sapped most of my confidence. If Pegasus didn't answer my calls to help me, how was I gonna fight against something like this by myself?
Because he believed in me. I was here for him...THAT'S how. With my courage back, I stood up straight just like my mother taught me and looked into his or her empty face."Who are you? Have you been keeping Pegasus from seeing me?"
"I'LL DRAG YOU BACK TO THE MOON IN CHAINS!" I clutched my head in pain when the phantom's bellowing voice split my skull apart. I knew he couldn't be Wiseman...but next to him, I almost wished Wiseman was here instead. His robes slid down when he lifted his arms into the air, but even they were pitch black, like I was staring into empty space. All except for the gleam of silver light I noticed from his right forearm. "MY WARRIORS, STAND WITH ME!"
Again, I almost tripped backing away from the bodies lying on the ground shambling to their feet. It was like a scene straight out of one of those zombie movies I was too young to watch. Their eyes were blank, just like the figure of the phantom in front of me. And as if I had just landed in a horror movie, the phantom stood unnaturally still, with his arms still lifted towards the sky as if somebody clicked the pause button. But he turned his attention back to his soldiers - and me - soon enough and resumed his threat...
"AFTER WE TEACH THIS DOUBLE-CROSSING WITCH AND THOSE WHO DARE STAND WITH HER A LESSON..."
To Be Continued
A/N: Pretty cruel fake-out at the end, but sometimes cliffhangers are necessary. Wouldn't have much of a story if I didn't leave you wanting more! Took a while to finish this one - I was hoping for another one week wonder, but it took a few extra days. I hope the added length was worth it. I am worried that the reunions slowed things down too much, and I wonder if I should have held on to Pegasus' return (alongside a certain other character from SoSM...) for next chapter. But those introductions at the end were two scenes I was really looking forward to, and I hope it all came together in the end. Like Lita and Mama Ikuko, I love reviews :) Good, bad, or in between, let me know!
PS: If you've read SoSM before, did you recognize the scene at the end? If you did, you deserve a cookie :) A few of you asked me if a certain fan-favorite from SoSM (two, maybe?) would appear in the prequel even if it takes place several weeks before they actually met Rini. Surprised? Confused?