Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a while but I've been focusing on ASN lately and it's midterm time T_T Don't you hate stupid midterm tests? Why can't we just go without them?

Anyway, there's nothing that can be done about it. But at least I'm here with this newly revised chapter! I like the way I fixed this one. The battle scene was pretty short and I made it much longer. I never realized how little emphasis I put on the battles in the past. I must learn not to do this with future Sailor Moon stories.

So, as always I hope you enjoy this chapter and please leave reviews and I will talk to you soon! Love ya!

~SXS

Disclaimer: See prologue


Chapter 8: Mysterious Mia

Blissful happiness, beautiful scenery, soft music, as the two swayed back and forth gently. It was absolute perfection, everything that she had ever wished for. "Oh, Sheldon, I have been waiting forever for this day to come!" Kate looked deep into the amber eyes of her partner. Smiling back he put a finger to her lips.

"Katherine, my dear, let us not speak. Let us seal this moment with a kiss." The couple closed their eyes and slowly leaned their faces closer to one another, waiting to feel the gentle touch of the other's lips.

Suddenly, Sheldon pulled back and looked at her strangely. "Kate? Kate!" He began to shake her and the fantasy scene faded as she returned to reality. Groggily, Kate looked to see who was responsible for destroying her dream.

"Wha? Lisa?" But why was Lisa in her bedroom. Unless! "Gah, I must have fallen asleep!" Kate gasped.

"Oh, is that so, Ms. Astrum?" A new voice spoke this time. Kate lifted her head completely and came face to face with an angry man.

"Mr. Slandent! I can explain!" Kate quickly tried to think of a cover, but nothing came to mind. She obviously couldn't tell him the real reason: that she, Lisa, and her grandmother had been out late the night before fighting a new minion from Magnus.

"Save it for the other delinquents in detention." Mr. Slandent took a pad from his pocket and a pen from behind his ear and wrote up a detention slip. He handed the little piece of paper to Kate. "Now get back to work."

Grumbling at Lisa for not having woken her sooner, Kate returned to the math problems she had been solving.

At the end of the day, Lisa was accompanying Kate to her locker before they had to part ways. "I can't believe I got detention!" the latter complained. "What if you-know-who attacks again?"

"First of all, I think we need to come up with a better way to refer for Magnus and company. Otherwise people will think we're referencing Harry Potter or something. And don't worry about it," Lisa replied, her laid-back attitude coming through. "I can handle it."

"Well, I can't let this happen aga-" Kate stopped mid-sentence and her already open jaw dropped further. A little way down the hall she had spotted Sheldon hugging another girl. A burgundy-eyed girl with long violet hair. Not that the details really mattered. All that mattered to Kate was that she was hugging Sheldon.

After a moment, Lisa pushed Kate's chin back into place and looked in the same direction. "Oh! I see what your problem is. You know, I've never seen her before. She must be new."

"I don't care what she is! No one is going to get to Sheldon before I do!" Just then, said boy walked over and greeted his two friends. Then he turned back to the mystery girl and waved goodbye. "How are you guys today?"

"Fine! Just fine!" Kate said irritably. "Who was that with you?"

"Oh, that was just Mia, my-"

"Oh, Mia's her name is it? Lovely, just lovely!" Kate shouted before turning to storm off in the other direction.

Bewildered, Sheldon turned to Lisa. "What's her problem?"

"She's just...steamed because she got a detention from Slandent," Lisa replied.

Turning back, Kate said, "That's not why! I'm completely and totally fine with detention! Now if you'll both excuse me I have to get to detention before I get a detention for being late TO DETENTION! Goodbye!" Kate continued her raging walk while Lisa and Sheldon looked to each other and sighed shaking their heads.

(.:SX:.)

All that week, Kate kept a close eye on Mia and Sheldon. She wanted to make sure the new girl was no more of a friend to him than she was. Lisa continually told her that she was going overboard with her stalking techniques, but Kate felt she was entirely in the right.

"After all, I've been friends with him for much longer. They just met the other day! If anyone deserves a chance with him, it's me."

"Kate," Lisa repeated again. "It's not really up to you who he dates. It's his choice! It's not like you're actually together and think he's cheating. And I'm sure they're just friends. All they've ever done is hug!"

"But don't you see the way she looks at him? There's something bad about her, I just know it. She acts so innocent but I can feel the vibes of a stronger power underlying. Maybe she's a new enemy in disguise." Kate would find any reason to dislike her.

"Oh, Lord!" Exasperated, Lisa decided to give up for the day.

(.:SX:.)

Sheldon's apartment. Earlier in the week

Sheldon unlocked the door and opened it, gesturing for the girl to enter before him.

"Wow, Sheldon, this is really nice. You live here on your own?" Mia asked, surprised that the young teen could handle himself in the big city alone.

"It's not much," Sheldon shrugged. "I've been living frugally seeing as the money from Dad is almost gone. I might have to start selling stuff if I want to stay here."

"Sheldon…Maybe I shouldn't stay with you after all. I mean, I'd just be costing you extra and-"

"Mia." Sheldon grabbed her by the shoulders and started directly into her eyes with a stern expresseion. "I'll be fine. You need someone and I'm all you have. I'm not going to let my own troubles get in the way of helping you."

Her burgundy eyes welled and she nodded.

Sheldon's face softened and he smiled. "Come on. I'll show you your room."

He led her into the hallway to where two rooms were directly across the hall from one another. He pointed to the one on their left. "This is my room, so the one over here is your room. If you need anything then you can just knock on my door."

"Thank you so much, Shel." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and Sheldon smiled before he went back to the living room. Mia decided to settle in and unpack her bags. When she felt comfortable, she changed into pajamas and laid down on the bed.

She took in the little spare room. There wasn't much other than the bed, dresser, and a shelf with some books on it. She guessed that this used to be Sheldon's room before his mother left and his father died.

It had been only a few months before when the latter occurred. At that point, her own mother had offered to take him in but Sheldon was determined to stay in New York with the money left to him by his father.

She reflected on how they were now in similar situations. Glancing at the photo of her and her mother that she had placed on the dresser, she felt tears arise in her eyes again. "I promise, Mom, I'll do whatever it takes to save you."

(.:SX:.)

"Let's see what the lovebirds are doing today."

"Kate, please! Can't you just give up? At least during lunch!" Lisa begged. Kate did not answer. Her eyes were fixed on Mia and Sheldon who were just walking in the cafeteria doors. Lisa glanced over as well and noticed them coming in the direction of their table. "Looks like you got your wish. You'll be able to get a perfect view on what they're doing. They're coming this way." Lisa was actually somewhat happy about this because it meant that Kate couldn't say anything outlaid about her suspicions.

Kate quickly fixed herself to look as if she had been eating the whole time. When Mia and Sheldon finally made it over to their table, they were laughing and smiling which made Kate's envy boil in the pit of her stomach.

As they sat, Mia became quieter. Sheldon greeted his friends with a big, "Hey gals!"

"Hey," Kate and Lisa replied together.

"You guys know my-"

"Yes, we know Mia." Kate was quick to cut off the words she dreaded to hear. If she actually heard the word 'girlfriend', she was sure it would be the end for her. But as long as it wasn't officially stated, she could pretend that it wasn't true.

"So, Mia. We haven't really gotten a chance to talk to each other," Lisa said, humoring her best friend by trying to get some information out of the new girl. "What brings you here to NYC?"

At this, Mia's face became solemn and she cast her eyes downward. Kate, who was readily to internally scoff at her reaction, could read the sincerity of the sadness in her eyes.

"Well…" Mia started. Her voice was quiet and shy, nothing like how she appeared when Kate saw her alone with Sheldon. "My mother recently went missing. I had nowhere else to go so Sheldon took me in."

A pang of guilt struck Kate's heart. She felt horrible for all the assumptions she made about Mia, and almost didn't mind the idea of her dating Sheldon. She made eye contact with her and smiled warmly for the first time in days.

"You're really lucky to have someone like him. And I'm sorry about what happened." Kate reached out a hand and put it on the other girl's.

Suddenly, she felt a jolt and jerked her hand back. Mia seemed to feel the same and reacted as well. The two looked at each other as if seeing for the first time.

"What happened?" Lisa asked.

"Are you two ok?" Sheldon asked.

Kate felt all the suspicion return to her as she recognized the feeling of power lying beneath the surface of the calm and shy Mia. Yet at the same time, she didn't feel that she was a threat of any kind.

"Mia, are you-" Kate couldn't finish her sentence because a scream sounded outside. In the next second, an explosion busted through the wall of the cafeteria.

Students were suddenly screaming and running in every direction. Debris from the destroyed wall flew across the room and smoke clouded over them.

"Kate!" Lisa coughed. "We have to get out of here!"

"I know!" she choked back. "Sheldon? Mia?" she called out to the other two but there was no answer and she assumed that they had run away in fear. "The coast is clear! Let's go before the smoke clears out. X Crystal Power, Make up!"

"Sun Crystal Power, Make up!"

When everything was clear the majority of the students were frozen in their places. A figured approached through the hole in the wall, followed behind by a giant ring.

"Why hello, Sailor girls. I figured you'd be here. I've heard so much about you." As it got closer, the two could tell it was a man. He wore long black robes glittered with silver sparkles. His eyes were such an ice blue they almost looked white. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sorciero." He bowed with a flourish, his shoulder-length blue hair following his motion.

"Sorciero?" Sailor X repeated, confused. "What is Veneficus too chicken to come back and face us anymore?"

"I don't think you want to know where Veneficus is right now." Sorciero smirked. "Now that I am in her place, it doesn't matter anyway. It's my task to dispose of you so that I may complete my Madam's bidding." He snapped his fingers and the ring behind him spread into three.

"Master, I'm ready to squeeze the happiness out of these humans!" the rings spoke. The sound seemed to come out of the open center of the original.

"Excellent, my Frustro. You know your task and so I shall leave you to your work." Sorciero spread his arm out causing his robes to open and reveal a blue bodysuit. "Tata, Sailor girls." He swept the robe back in and swirled, disappearing from sight.

"Coward!" Sun shouted after him. "One of these days I'll kill one of them before they can get away!"

"I think we should focus on now, Sailor Sun! Look out!" Sailor X cried. The rings were hovering above them and were descending fast.

"Split up!" Sailor X and Sun ran in opposite directions to escape the rings.

"Silly girls. You can split up, and so can we!" The rings detached from each other and sped after the Sailor soldiers.

"Stupid magic tricks!" Sailor X panted. She turned and started to run backwards. "X Hidden-Whoa!" She tripped over one of the frozen students and fell, allowing the ring to catch up to her and trap her.

"Hold on X! Ozone Shield!" Sun spread the shield over herself so that the ring couldn't get to her. She ran past a window holding her staff up to try to absorb some sunlight for extra power. However, the sky was obscured by clouds. "Damn weather! I can't attack the rings and keep the shield up at the same time without the sun!"

"Just…try…something!" Sailor X wheezed. The ring around her was tightening slowly but surely, cutting off her ability to breath.

Sun ran over as fast as she could, let the shield down and cried out, "Extreme Meltdown!" Midway through her attack she was captured by the ring and her aim was thrown off, missing Sailor X by inches.

The third ring enclosed both of them and squeezed them together. They continued to contract until their vision started to cloud over and their lungs felt as though they were on fire from lack of air.

Just as it seemed like the end, the pressure around them released and they fell to the floor coughing. The rings lay next to them on the floor, split on the sides. The pieces floated to one another and reattached as one large ring.

"How could this be? There's no way my skin could be pierced!" the bodiless voice of the ring spoke out. It turned looking for its attacker. Sailor X and Sun also looked.

By the main door of the cafeteria, a shadowed figure stood. Sailor X recognized the silhouette as the same one that saved her in Macys. "It's…you!" she said in between trying to catch her breath.

"Sailor X," the strange figure said. "Don't ever worry. I will always be ready to help you when the time comes."

"Who are you?" Sun asked. "Who is that?" She turned to Sailor X. "Why didn't you tell me about that guy?"

"Another day, Sailor Sun. Now fight!" The shadow disappeared.

"He's right, Sun!" Sailor X said staggering to get up. "Let's double team!"

"Good call! Uh, do we have a double team attack?"

"Yes!" a new voice called out. Astra jumped through the hole in the wall and scampered over to the two girls. "It was something we were never able to teach you on Xena. You have the ability to combine your attacks and make an even more powerful attack. Take hands and shout 'Double Team Power Up!'"

Sailor X and Sun did as they were told and immediately they felt new words forming in their mouths. In unison they called out, "Extreme Hidden Melting Beam!" The new and more powerful blast came out of the top of Sun's staff and shot straight at the ring.

An ear splitting scream came from the center of the ring and it melted into a pile of molten goo. "Alright!" Sun exclaimed. "That was awesome! Looks like you're up buddy."

"Thanks buddy. Star Secret Magic!"

The light from Sailor X's wand washed over the ring, which shouted, "Encore!" and was reduced to nothing.

"Excellent work!" Astra said. "You two are very well in sync. You're progressing faster than I expected."

"That's all fine and good. But look at this destruction! We're going to lose another week of school for sure!" Sailor Sun said, jumping for joy.

(.:SX:.)

Once again, the school had an emergency evacuation and the students and staff were sent home early. On the bus home, Kate, Sheldon, and Lisa were sitting in the back as per their usual.

"Sailor X was there again!" Sheldon said in excitement.

"What about Sailor Sun?" Lisa said, sounding a bit more offended than she should have let on.

"Who?" he asked.

"Oh forget it."

Kate, still feeling guilty about everything that happened with Mia, turned to Sheldon said, "Look, Sheldon, I'm sorry for being all jealous of Mia. I guess I should be happy about what you guys have."

"You were jealous?" he tilted his head to the side.

"Well, you two are a couple, right? You guys spend so much time together and I always see you hugging in the hall. And it made me jealous because I like-…I mean, I don't like the idea of you spending all your time with a girl and forgetting you friends."

There was a silent pause in which Sheldon and Kate stared at each other, the latter waiting for him to scold her for her actions, the former confused.

Suddenly Sheldon burst out laughing. "What? It's not funny!" Kate said.

"Oh, it's hilarious!" Sheldon chuckled, wiping his eyes. "Kate. Mia and I have about as much chance of dating as you and Bebe becoming best friends."

Now it was Kate and Lisa's turns to look confused. He shook his head smiling, answering the questions in their eyes. "Mia and I are cousins!"

Lisa facepalmed. Kate started to redden as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. It all made sense in the end now that she knew they were cousins. "I…feel like the biggest idiot."

"It's like I always say," Lisa said. "When you assume you make an a-"

Sheldon quickly covered her mouth. "Watch what you say, Lisa. There could be children reading this."