Discalimer: Sailor Moon characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi. Everything else belongs to me. Please do not steal!

.

.

14 - Welcome to Girl Club

Resting her hip on the wooden railing, she narrowed her eyes against the bright sun, one hand going up to shield her green eyes. A soft, sided smile coming to her lips upon the scene waiting for her there.

Because right there in the sand, not twenty feet away from the deck she was standing on, one beautiful little pixie was laughing hard, supporting her tiny, beautiful frame against the tall chestnut haired man, as he laughed along with her. His arms fast to steady her firmly in the sand before he raised them up, widely gesticulating as he talked, and then grabbing the petite girl as she laughed and shook her head, trying to get away.

All it had taken was for Masato to claim he could easily do the Dirty dancing lift, before he found himself surrounded and widely outnumbered by a bunch of excited Senshi, all wanting to play Baby.

But of course, she herself had been the first one to try that one out, just for funsies. When it came to trying out weird, funny shit like that with any of the men, she called dibs. Always.

Just one of the perks of being the only girl among the Shitennou.

And she had to give it to the man. After a couple of failed tries, a few bumps in the head on both sides, and getting sand in all kinds of places, Masato had actually managed to do as he said he could, lifting her up and above his head and then holding her there; his big hands firm on her hips as she tried to maintain her balance.

It only lasted for a couple of seconds before they both found themselves once again rolling in the sand. But hell, that had been fun.

And, of course, after witnessing the scene, the happy bunch of women now around the tall man had all wanted to give it a try themselves. Somehow, they had even managed to convince one blue little pixie to try it out as well. So now Masato was bent on the knees, getting about Ami's height -quite a challenge, considering her petite stature while he was, by quite a few inches, the tallest of them all. He put both his hands on Ami's hips, explaining something. But the girl laughed, blushed, and slapped his hands off, once more trying to get away.

The green eyed Shitennou's smile widened at that. The sexy little pixie girl was awfully ticklish.

She should know. She had have way too much fun herself going for her hips, neck, sides, and even the back of her knees, just to tickle her. The sound of her laughter more than enough reason for her to seek it over and over again; the sweet embraces, kisses, and other activities that would usually follow one of their tickle wars, something she also enjoyed. Quite a lot.

Considering it had been barely a month, there surely was something to be said about this new found addiction of hers to beautiful little pixie in blue.

And she couldn't keep her eyes off of her, as she saw her talk to Masato, the man once more trying to convince her to just take the jump instead of baking out on the last second, like she had been doing for the past five minutes or so. Her smile was wide and beautiful, and she saw the pixie pulled a full-on Usagi, hitting one foot against the sand and shaking her head; the soft material of her pale pink crochet sweater doing absolutely nothing to hide the two pieces swimsuit and that wonderful body underneath.

"They look like they're having fun," a husky, female voice right next to her made her look to the side and right into shining emeralds.

Summer was no more, but the sunny, heated days remained still, as autumn had yet to make an appearance. And they had all decided to make the trip to Jei's beach house once more, in what had become their weekend tradition for the last month of summer.

It was a little windy, the breeze a bit cooler than that of a typically, summery day, hence the light sweater her pixie and a few others were wearing over their swimsuits. But that didn't stop them from enjoying a day out in the sun.

This time around, the Outer Senshi crew had been in town and able to come join them for the weekend. Unlike the rest of them, they hadn't spent the night there, but still showed up early enough in the morning so that they too could enjoy the day, all buckled up in one of Haruka's fancy cars -the blonde had more than one, as she had come to learned. Not that it was that surprising, considering what the girl did for a living.

"It is fun," Zoe said, nodding her head. "Wanna give it a try?"

The tall girl snorted. "I am not about to trust him to lift me six feet off the ground."

An amused smirk tugged the corner of her lips at that.

It was a well known fact the racer had a kick on threatening Masato. It was also a known fact that it had nothing to do with anything Senshi related, past or present, and everything to do with the man dating the tall blonde's favorite sister-Senshi. Or so the others kept telling her.

She watched as the blonde easily rest her arms against the railing, bending forward and raising her face up to the sun. Her ever attentive green eyes watching the dancing scene fiasco still developing in front of them.

"She looks happy," the racer noted.

She didn't need to ask who was she referring to. And she couldn't help the loving, tender smile from coming to her lips anymore than she could stop the sun from rising in the east.

"I'm glad," the taller blonde then added, a small, content smile decorating her features before she frowned, turning her face around to look at her. "So make sure you keep it that way."

Again, she smiled. "I will," she said, already coming up with all the different ways she could keep that happy smile on her pixie's face.

"Good," Haruka said, nodding her head once. "Because I like you, and I'd hate to have to kick your ass."

Although she knew the tall woman was most definitively not joking, she couldn't help but chuckle all the same at her words.

She had seen her training, and knew she was just as tough as Mamoru said she was. Probably even more so; she would surely make for one hell of an opponent.

How weird was it that she actually wanted to give that one a try? Did that make her a masochist? Or just not right in the head? Maybe her last visit down to Hell had left her with a few loosen bolts and nuts…

Tossing that line of thoughts out of the way altogether, Zoe chose humor's way instead. "So you're ok with me, but you don't like them," she said, knowing there was no need for her to clarify who 'them' were.

Now it was the racer's turn to chuckle, shaking her head in amusement. "Just because I don't actually have a problem with either of you, doesn't mean I have to go on and admit to it."

"Right," she agreed, smiling. "It would probably take the fun out of threatening Masato," she guessed.

The other girl laughed, nodding her head. "Exactly."

"Still. With what Mamoru told me, feels like you should've been the first one to say no," she pointed out. In part for argument' sake, and in part because she was genuinely curious.

The racer wasn't exactly an open book. Although she had seen a more teasing, playful side to her in their brand new Headquarters, when the blonde would tease and fool around with the rest of the Senshi, she knew her to be a very private, reserved person. Down to earth -which was refreshing, considering she was a rather famous person-, doting with her friends and those she cared about, and usually not as vocal as her Senshi sister. Although she knew, the racer had no problem whatsoever with speaking her mind.

Which only made the green eyed Shitennou all the more curious.

Physically speaking, Sailor Uranus was, by far, the strongest Senshi. And her Senshi power took second place only after little Moon girl and her Ginzuisho. But the Princess' power was entirely different, meant to heal and protect, born out of pure light and pure love. Uranus' power was, to put it quite simple, the most powerful freaking attack ever; if she had, at any given moment in time, considered the Shitennou her enemies, it was a wonder she hadn't turned them into pink mist on first sight.

"Oh, I was. Believe me," the racer assured her, amused.

"So what changed your mind?" she asked, intrigued now.

"You honestly think I'd let you, any of you, come anywhere near my Princess, or the Prince for that matter, without making absolutely, dead sure that shit show won't happen again?" the blonde asked back, arching an eyebrow her way, daring her to question her.

And Zoe wanted to. Oh boy, did she want to.

Seriously, there was definitively something wrong with her…

A smirk, rather cocky and smug, made its way to Haruka's lips. "In case you haven't noticed, I have my very own Oracle," she joked.

Although, Zoe knew, that was no joke. A mental image of the blonde and her aquamarine haired partner interrogating one tall, olive skinned woman jumped into her mind then. Big bright light right into magenta eyes and the woman tied to a chair, like in those old detective movies. And she had the distinctive feeling, that was not that far off from the truth.

Though reality might have been a tad different from her mental image, the greened Shitennou knew, that interrogation had most certainly taken place. Which led her to believe the racer knew far more than she let on.

And her next words only proved Zoe's suspicions right.

"She knows better than not telling me if there's even a slight chance of history repeating itself. And I would never let that happen again. You have my word."

She nodded, letting the words sink in for a moment.

"So, you know."

It wasn't a question, and she didn't really need the taller girl to answer.

And she didn't. Her eyes traveled back to the sand, beyond the dancing Senshi group, and to the smaller group of three gathered by the shore.

"When those two first showed up, I did a little digging," she finally said, after a moment of silence. "All I was told was that a girl really close to them got hurt, and their mad man-hunt ended up being Beryl's free entry ticket," she offered. "Not that I blame them," she then added, in a low whisper, as if talking to herself. But then she shook her head, looking at her once more. "It wasn't hard to put two and two together when you showed up."

"And Lord Zoisite turned out to be a girl," she put in, nodding in understanding.

The other blonde chuckled. "Respect," she conceded, raising up a hand.

She high fived the girl, chuckling too.

Although the taller blonde was now wearing a teal colored, two pieces swimsuit under her half buttoned plaid shirt and denim shorts, it was a world known fact she had a habit of cross-dressing whenever she felt like it.

And she certainly rocked at it, too. Just like she knew exactly how to rock those leather miniskirts and tight pants she was also fond of, as Zoe had come to know.

If anyone would appreciate her past-self ability to conceal herself and pass as a male, deceiving everyone around her, that someone was Tenoh Haruka.

"I meant what I said," the racer's husky voice got her out of her own head, making her look up at her once more. "I won't let that happen again. None of us will. To anyone."

She nodded, not really wanting to go that deep into something she only half remembered, and wanted to forget altogether.

"And, you know," Haruka soon added, as that smirk of hers reappeared. "Between Michiru, Rei, Setsuna, and now your boy there," she said, pointing with her head towards the tall, chestnut haired man, "pretty sure we've got the foreseeing the future part covered."

She laughed at that, fully agreeing with her. "So basically, what you're saying is you've got my back."

The racer shrugged, faking indifference. But that smirk of hers still danced in her features, as she sent one of her famous teasing winks Zoe's way.

"That's how we roll. And like I said, I like you. So welcome to my Girl Club, pal."

.

.

Pink mist: military term used to describe the spray of blood after a body has been hit by an explosive device or sniper fire, conjuring an evocative image of a body shattering upon impact

Any thoughts?