Finding Heaven on Earth: Bye Bye Love

THANK YOU MEPHIBOSHETH (You saved this chapter)

Chapter 25

For several minutes, silence filled the room. The girls swapped glances, each considering what Phoebus had said. Serena looked at them from her spot between her father and her boyfriend.

A knock at the door broke the silence. It slid open only inches to reveal Grandpa Hino. "Raye, I brought you all some more snacks and tea." A tray slid inside the door and the man immediately began sliding the door back to avoid the usual biting comments from his granddaughter.

"Grandpa, wait," Raye stood and walked over to the door, opening it all the way. "Come in and join us, Grandpa. I have something important to tell you."

Grandpa Hino was surprised at the invitation. "All right," was all he could think to say as he followed her inside. He recognized all but the two men at Serena's side. He sat down at their study table, next to Raye's spot.

"Grandpa, I have something important to tell you," she repeated as she sat back down next to him. She took a deep breath, clearly nervous. She glanced over at Serena as if to ask if this was really necessary.

Serena stood up and walked around to Raye's spot and knelt down beside her, touching her hand comfortingly.

Raye never would be able to describe how grateful she was for Serena at that very moment. "Okay, here it goes. I'll just come right out and say it. Grandpa, I…" the words caught in her throat. "I'm Sailor Mars. I have been for the past year." She looked down at the floor, her face flushed. It was a hard thing to admit, especially to the only real family she had left.

The old man smiled gently at his granddaughter. "I was wondering when you would get up the courage to tell me."

Raye's eyes snapped up. She gaped at her grandfather. "What? You knew? How?"

"Child, I raised you and I'm the one you got your spiritual sense from, remember? There's very little about you that I don't know," Grandpa Hino replied. "I didn't say anything because I knew that if you were keeping it a secret then you must have a good reason for it and you would tell me when you were ready."

"And you're not mad?" Raye asked. "I thought you…"

Grandpa put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm very proud of you. You've really grown this past year. You've found some really good friends and broken out of that tough shell you built around yourself. At the same time, you've been protecting the world without any thought for your own safety. While I'm not entirely happy about that last part, I know it's not your fault. Your spiritual powers have grown exponentially since you've become Sailor Mars. Most importantly, you are my granddaughter, nothing will ever change that."

Raye sniffed. She had never thought she had done anything to make her grandfather proud of her. She was always scared that at some point, he would see what her own father had seen that made him hate her. After all, no father hates their own daughter without a reason, right? It had to be her fault and she was scared that her grandfather would eventually see it too. "Grandpa…" A tear peaked from her eye.

The old man drew her into a gentle, warm embrace. "It's okay child," he whispered. "It's okay."

"Oh Grandpa," she whispered, "I'm sorry I didn't trust you sooner."

He just stroked her hair, murmuring words of comfort and love.

He pulled away after a few minutes and looked at the two men, studying them. A light of recognition came into his eyes and he smiled. "Erik, it's good to see you again. Is your grandfather coming back to visit anytime soon?"

It was Diamond's turn to stare open-mouthed. "Sir, I'm…"

"Yes, I know who you are too. It's the whole spiritual ability thing again," Grandpa clarified. "I didn't recognize you at first, but you have the same aura regardless of your appearance. I knew from the beginning that you and your grandfather were different, special." He turned his attention to Phoebus. "The only one I don't know is you, sir."

Phoebus chuckled. "Well, how much have you managed to glean about your granddaughter and her friends so far?"

"Oh, only that Ami is Sailor Mercury, Lita is Jupiter, Mina is Venus, and Serena here is the famous Sailor Moon and is also the reincarnation of the Princess of the Moon, Serenity," Grandpa laughed as every single jaw in the room dropped and gasps were heard.

"Grandpa," Raye ground through her teeth, "are you sure it's just your 'spiritual sense' that told you all this or have you been spying on my conversations again?"

"Does it really matter how I got the information so long as I got it?" he retorted. The old man laughed. It was quite a coup to know something before his granddaughter wanted him to, no matter the method.

Phoebus laughed with the old man as Serena fought to keep Raye calm.

"Well, that brings up another point," Grandpa said. "Why are you meeting in such a public place if you wish to keep it secret?"

"Well, this was the best we could do," Serena replied. "We can't afford anywhere else."

"Yeah," Lita said. "Money is an issue. Sapphire and I were wondering earlier just how we're going to get the capital to start our florist shop."

Phoebus cocked an eyebrow. "So not only are you five expected to put your lives at terrible risk fighting the evils that threaten this world, but you're expected to do so out of the goodness of your hearts." He scowled. "Altruism is admirable, but not exactly practical."

"Well," Luna began. "It wouldn't be right to ask for money. It's not like Artemis and I can draw up paychecks and a true hero does what they do because it's the right thing to do."

"So do police officers and firemen," Diamond stated. "Not to mention Japan's defense system. And yet all of them get paid for their services."

"But, the scouts aren't police officers or firemen," Artemis answered.

"But they ARE soldiers," Phoebus pointed out.

"Well, I better get back to my chores," Grandpa Hino quickly made his way out, avoiding the argument that was sure to begin. "Have fun kids."

Luna sighed. "Queen Serenity said…"

"Queen Serenity is not here. And the orders she gave you are not only idealistic but nonsense," Phoebus bit out. "Heaven knows I loved my wife, but even I concede that she clearly was not in her right mind when she gave those orders. The idea that they should risk their lives out of the goodness of their hearts is, in an ideal world, good. But we do not live in an ideal world. We live in the real world. At some point in time, they are going to need to get jobs to sustain themselves in the real world. You want them to go to school, be Sailor Senshi, and hold jobs all at the same time? And you want their duties as senshi to come first? It's ridiculous. What about when they leave school and they have to get their own homes and have families to support. They won't be able to hold jobs while being senshi too. When do you want them to sleep?"

Luna wisely said nothing to that.

Mina laughed at his comment. "I told Artemis I needed funding too. He didn't agree but I was offered a position with the police department for a while. The police chief saw me transform by accident. She hasn't told anyone of course." The wheels were clearly turning in the blonde's head. "Hey, I can fund our headquarters and we'll call it Lita and Sapphire's Flower Shop. "

Deep laughter said that Phoebus approved of the idea. "Very good, although I believe the name will need some work."

Lita hugged Mina. "You don't have to give us your money."

"Yeah," Ami said. "You should save it for something important, like college."

"But this is important Ami," Mina insisted. "Phoebus is right, we need a proper HQ and we need a way to fund our group."

"I still don't like it, Mina," said Lita. "It feels too much like mooching."

"No, it's not. The money for the shop would be an investment Lita, so don't feel like you're mooching off of me anything." The blonde took a deep breath. "Okay this is my idea. We build the florist shop. You and Sapphire will be in charge and the rest of us will be your employees. After all, if we don't at least look like we have jobs at some point people are going to get suspicious. This way if we're called out to do sailor business, we don't have to make up some phony baloney, bound to get us fired excuse, because we know Sapphire will understand. Each of us can give the group half our paychecks. The basement can be our base, which we can set up to look like a base, with computers and everything. It's just what we need." Mina finished, out of breath; she had spoken so fast. Once she got started, she was impossible to stop.

"Yes, but if we're going to be a funded organization then we really need to change how we run the meetings," Ami said.

"Why Ami?" Mina asked.

"Right now, our meetings are little more than mere gab sessions with bits of sailor business throw in. We need to become more official, following Robert's Rules of Order," Ami pulled out her little computer and began typing madly. "I've been thinking about this for a long time since we found out why Darien was being so cruel to Serena. It made me realize that if we were more serious in our meetings maybe he would have felt like he could talk to us about those dreams of his."

Serena looked at Diamond, her expression saying that she still had the painful scars from her former boyfriend. He knew he still had a lot of work to do before those scars would heal.

"That's a good idea, Ami," Raye said. "So how should we do it?"

"Well, we need to elect officers first. We need a president, a vice-president, a chair, a secretary, and a treasurer."

"A chair? You mean we have to elect a piece of furniture?" Serena asked incredulously.

The girls all stared at her. Phoebus laughed deeply, the rich sound rolled across the room.

"What? Come on guys, stop it…" she pouted and crossed her arms. "Fine I'll go out with Reenie then."

Diamond stopped her as she walked by and pulled her into his arms. "You're so adorable," he chuckled.

"Serena, a chair or more specifically a chairman…"

"Or chairwoman," interrupted Raye, "is the person who is in charge of running the meetings. They get things started and keep things in order."

"Then, I think that Raye should do that, if no one else minds." said Serena, "She already has a lot of experience with clubs and stuff at school."

Mina, Lita and Ami all agreed.

"Wow, I guess it's unanimous," Raye said with a blush. "But I think Serena and Mina should be president and vice-president."

"You do?" Serena asked. "Why should I be president?"

"Duh, Serena. You're the Princess, and you're our leader," Raye replied. "I didn't think so several months ago, but you've really grown into your role as Sailor Moon. You don't exactly get things right away, but that's part of your charm. Besides, we'll all be here to help you out if you need it. And Mina should be vice-president because in the Silver Millennium, she was the leader."

Mina smiled proudly. "If everyone agrees, then I accept. Ami should be secretary though and Lita would be the best treasurer if we're all going to be her employees."

Already fulfilling the duties of secretary by taking minutes, Ami noted that the offices had been filled, all unanimously. If only all of their meetings would go this smoothly.

But Mina wasn't aware of Ami's satisfaction or of anything else. She bunched her hands together with excitement. "This is so much fun. We're going to get our own base and Lita's going to get her flower shop. Oh, I had better get to the bank before it closes so we can get things moving. Lita come with me!" She grabbed her best friend's hand and hauled her up. "Come on, come on!"

With Lita in tow, Mina ran out the door and promptly fell over a man waiting outside.

"Ow…" she moaned, not noticing who she had just flattened.

Raye did and she stood up. "Darien, what are you doing here?" The miko stood and glared at him. "I thought we told you. Serena doesn't want anything to do with you anymore!" The sacred fire behind her blazed, fueled by Raye's temper.

He held his hands up in surrender. "I'm just here to talk," Darien replied as he helped Mina off of him, "but I guess I got tackled instead."

"Well get your ass up and out of here," Raye ordered. "I told you, you're not welcome here anymore."

"Raye, it's okay," Serena told her.

Raye looked at her. "No it's not, he…"

"Apologized. We saw him on the way here and he apologized," Serena explained.

"Yes," Darien stood up. "I realized what a jerk I was and I am not here to beg her back. I know she's with Diamond now. I'm okay with it now."

"Then what do you want?" Lita asked as she helped Mina to her feet. "Just because Serena's forgiven you doesn't mean that we have."

"That's exactly it. I came to apologize to everyone else," he explained. "I didn't just wrong Serena, I wronged all of you." He hung his head like a little boy. "What I did was foolish and stupid. I didn't respect and trust any of you enough to share my problems. If I had none of this would have happened."

"I don't know if I believe you," said Raye. "Your actions really hurt all of us, and endangered everyone at the TA dance."

"Look, I'm sorry for that too. I've got a lot to do to make it up to you, all of you, but I'm willing to try. In the end, I believe in Serena. Not just as Sailor Moon or as the Moon Princess, but that she, Serena is a great person. I want to be a part of that."

"Darien..." said Serena, touched by his words. Even when they had been boyfriend and girlfriend, he had never told her that. "Can't you see, guys? He really is sorry. Please forgive him."

One by one, each girl nodded. Remaining angry wasn't going to help anything.

Darien turned to Diamond, who still had his arms wrapped around Serena. "And Erik, or Diamond or whoever you are... Since you're here too, I'd also like to apologize to you. I had no right to hit you earlier."

Diamond nodded. "Apology accepted."

"Wait," said Darien, "I'm not done. Somehow, deep inside, I knew all along that Reenie was fine and that you wouldn't hurt Serena, but I still tried to break you up because I couldn't deal with the idea of Serena belonging to someone else. I even knew before that mess last night; I just didn't want to believe that she had really chosen another of her own will. I'm sorry."

Diamond stood and offered his hand. "Apology accepted, and I hope you will accept my own. I'll admit that my plans weren't exactly pure at the beginning and I was using your failings to make myself look better to her."

Darien chuckled ruefully. "I don't think you had to try very hard with that one and I did the same thing." The two men looked each other in the eyes. There was a sense of camaraderie. Maybe they would never be best friends, but they both instinctively knew that they could trust the other. It was a beginning.

After a moment, he looked back at the girls. "I also overheard you guys talking about opening a florist and I think I have the perfect place. Mina, keep your money in the bank. I'll handle the finances. My father left me a property not that far from the Crown. I actually own that whole strip. You can have the empty space. No charge."

"Darien, that's not necessary," Mina told him.

"Yes it is," Darien told her. "I wasn't sure what to do with the empty space and I need a way to make up for my behavior. Besides, I'm part of a team, it's time I acted like it and contributed."

Lita touched Mina's shoulder. "He really does."

Mina sighed and let Lita lead her back to their seats.

"Well that's very generous of you Darien," Serena said. "What do you think Daddy?"

Phoebus nodded. "I think that's an excellent idea."

Ami looked up briefly, still typing into her mini-computer. "There's just one problem with that Darien," she said.

"Oh?"

"Taxes. In order to make this business work legally, you will have to charge us rent according to the fair market value of the property. However, I'm sure we can work out something with your accountants."

Again a rich, rolling chuckle washed through the room. "Leave it to the genius to find the loopholes," Phoebus said with a grin.

AN: Yes I know I posted this once but I revised it with the aide of my wonderful Beta Mephibosheth since the original just wasn't working (Mina wasn't in the mood to fight with her mother this chapter I guess. Next chapter will be the last chapter for sure. An epilogue and resolving all those relationships).