Act Nine: The Departure, the Trip, the Arrival, and 'The Look'
Serena: Wait, first you try to kill me, and now you're giving me protection?
Starlily11: If I killed you off in the tenth chapter, I wouldn't have a story now, would I?
Serena: Please don't kill me, Your Author-ness.
Starlily11: We'll see.
As soon as Serena had confirmed that she wasn't dreaming and called Seiya, she began to throw everything she could possibly need into a suitcase. Basically, she packed everything but the kitchen sink. The blonde thanked her lucky stars that one of her aunts had given her a luggage set that consisted of three suitcases, two carry-on bags, two make-up bags, and three toiletries bags. She found out quickly that it was necessary for her to use every part of the luggage set. Her mom had raised an eyebrow, but she hadn't attempted to rein her daughter in; after all, Serena's mom had packed even more stuff than her daughter. However, Sammy and his father had managed to fit everything into one large duffel bag between the two of them.
As Ken Tsukino hauled his wife and daughter's luggage out to the car, he cursed his wife's sister for giving those two luggage sets. Thanks to that, there was no way they'd be able to get unpacked before the end of a week. He also wondered why he hadn't tried to teach the two women in his life to travel light. After several more minutes of grunting, sweating, cursing, and growling, everything was in the car…and there was still just enough room for the driver and his three passengers.
Serena grinned as they finally left the driveway. She got a break from the constant strain of having a witch in her midst, and she got to see her friends and the love of her life again. Impulsively, the blonde unbuckled her seatbelt, rolled down the window the whole way, stuck her head out, and blew a raspberry at the house, which was fading in the distance. When she pulled her head back in, her mom and her brother were giving her 'you're strange' looks, but she simply flashed a grin at them. Ken Tsukino continued to drive, oblivious to his daughter's odd behavior.
The family reached the airport in record time; Ken had expected ridiculous amounts of luggage from the women and planned for it. They went through customs and security, and finally were allowed to board the plane. Serena's grin got even wider when she realized that they had seats in first-class. 'This is going to be so cool,' she thought, and shared a smile with Sammy, who was just as excited.
The trip was surprisingly dull; Serena ended up falling asleep within the next ten minutes, and she slept until dinner time, when her mom woke her up to ask what she wanted to eat. The blonde grunted out what she wanted and went back to sleep. Sammy played games on his PlayStation Portable, Ken read a book, and Ilene went through the numerous mental lists to make sure they had everything. The only times Serena had to wake up and stay awake were when they had to change planes; otherwise, she slept the whole way.
Finally, they landed at the Seattle Tacoma International Airport. Serena slept through the announcement, but Sammy heard, and he put away his electronic device. Ken put his book aside, and Ilene shook her daughter gently.
"Come on, Serena. It's time to wake up. We're here."
Serena moaned, but didn't open her eyes.
"Sweetie, we're in Seattle."
"Uuuunnnhh…"
"Don't you want to get off the plane?"
"I'm sleepy…"
"Fine, if you don't want to see Seiya, I'll just tell him you decided to stay in Wisconsin."
Serena bolted upright. "Don't do that!" she cried.
"Okay. Let's get off the plane, then."
"Okay!" Serena said cheerfully.
The blonde followed her parents and Sammy off of the plane, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she went. Outside the gate stood everyone she'd been missing since she left. Serena squealed and soon the Outers, Inners, and Starlights found themselves wrapped in a suffocating hug. "I've missed you guys so much!" she declared. "You guys have no idea how much I've missed you."
Seiya grinned and wrapped the hyper blonde in a gentle hug, and then the two (you guessed it!) kissed.
Then, once the romantic moment was over, everyone got their own individual hug, courtesy of Serena.
Sammy interrupted. "Come on, Serena! We still need to get our stuff!" he grumbled. "If we don't hurry up, we'll still be trying to get your luggage next week!"
"Sammy, I didn't pack that much!" Serena retorted.
"Yeah, right!"
Serena smiled at her friends and said, "You heard the boy, ah, man! Guess I've got to get my stuff."
"We're coming, too!" Mina insisted.
Serena grinned and said, "All right. But first you have to promise that you won't tease me when we get there."
"Why would we tease you, Odango?" Seiya asked, confused.
"You'll see," the blonde replied with a sly smile.
Suddenly nervous, the group followed the petite blonde to the luggage carousel, where the rest of the Tsukino family awaited them. Three suitcases went careening onto the carousel. They were exactly the same. Sammy checked the tags.
"Serena, these three suitcases are yours," he announced.
Yaten turned and looked at Serena. "How long are you going to be here, again?" he asked.
"Just a few days, but I had to bring every outfit I own just in case I change my mind about what to wear," Serena answered innocently.
Yaten rolled his eyes. Mina, however, said, "Smart move, Serena! You can't afford to be unable to find the right outfit because you under-packed!"
Three make-up bags came around. Sammy handed them to his sister, and she placed them on the cart with her mom's stuff. Then, the two toiletries bags came around, which received the same treatment. At this point, the boys and Amara were rolling their eyes. Mina was defending Serena, and the others were just laughing.
Serena turned puppy-dog eyes to her dad. "Daddy?" she asked sweetly.
Ken looked down at his daughter and smiled at her innocent expression. "Yes, honey?"
"Can I go hang out with my friends and meet you at the hotel later?" she asked.
"Of course," he said.
Serena hugged her father and whispered, "You're the best!" Then, she departed with her friends.
Ilene raised an eyebrow at her husband. "You do realize that you've been tricked into letting her out of a day of unpacking, right?" she asked.
"Of course, but what was I supposed to do? She gave me 'The Look.'"
Ilene nodded in understanding. 'The Look' was infamous in their household. 'The Look' was Serena's most powerful weapon. It could calm down a raging Ken and stop a furious Ilene in her tracks. Not even Serena's friends were immune to 'The Look'. 'The Look' could stop Amara in her tracks any day, and it was what could have convinced Trista to stop time if Serena wanted it. 'The Look' was the one thing that could convince anyone to do something for Serena that they wouldn't otherwise do. Mina had once joked that if Serena had used that look on Chaos, they all would have been spared an extremely difficult battle. Oh, yes… 'The Look' was impossible to resist.