Chapter 20: Futaba

July 19th, 1999

It had been a rather long summer. Lita and the other Sailor Scouts spent a great deal of time after their high school graduations together. At Raye's temple, all of them had gathered around the table in the main prayer temple talking about school and other endeavors, "Well, I'm going to be in medical school in one of the northern prefectures, so I'll be in the country, unlike before," Amy was especially thrilled about getting into the University of her choice, not that it was going to be an issue.

"You always have more fun reading books than being some place neat," Serena, a blonde-hair pig-tailed teenager spoke with a piece of donut in her mouth, "I mean, you spent more time reading on the life of Walt Disney then actually enjoying Disneyland. Where's the magic in that?"

"You can always try having an imagination of your own sometime, Meatballhead," Raye, once again taking her normal jabs at the girl beside her. Serena shot the raven-haired priestess a dirty look, "I have an imagination, you just don't appreciate it!" At that point, the two began their bickering again, Amy giggling at the spectacle, "It never ends with them, does it?"

Mina looked over to Lita and saw her looking over a set of pictures she had taken over the summer. She was looking through them picking out the best ones, "What ya got there, Lita?"

She looked to her blonde-haired friend and looked back to the pictures as she blushed a bit, "Oh, I'm just deciding what pictures to send to Dan with my letter back to him." Serena pricked her ears up as she heard Dan's name spoken, "Oh, how is Dan doing? I haven't asked in a while."

"He's doing okay. The phone company is going through some bad times right now. Apparently, one of the big ones is trying to buy a bunch of the smaller ones," a small look of worry came across Lita's face, "He's not sure if he's gonna have a job after all of this."

"That poor guy," Mina looked to her placemat at the table and shook her head, "After all he did for us, he shouldn't have it this hard." "Yeah, really," Raye agreed as she thought back to something, "He really took Ghostbusters folding hard."

"Dr. Spengler told me Dan blamed himself for it," Amy picked up her tea and looked into it thoughtfully, "It really wasn't his fault. Especially with Dr. Spengler's PKE Meter exploding and the American Ambassador…" Lita felt a twinge in her heart as Amy said that. She was - after all - the one that punched Ambassador Flint in the mouth shortly after they exited the building and he was standing there screaming at Dan. She felt responsible for the Ghostbusters paycheck being pulled and the business folding.

The girls started to notice the conversation took an awkward turn and Lita was looking pained. Mina took notice and looked back to the pictures, "So, you gonna send him a copy of the festival pictures? I know being American, he'd wanna see you in a kimono."

Quickly looking over to Mina, Lita took note of her words and fluttered her brow, "Oh! Yeah, that's a good one!" she flipped through the pictures and found the picture of her and the other girls at the Katsushika Shobu Matsuri festival wearing kimonos. She put it with the stack of pictures she curated to send in the mail as Mina began to pry a bit, "Have you finished your letter to him yet?"

"No," the girl said in an exasperated voice, "I'm still trying to figure out what culinary school to apply for. I really wanna go to this one in France, but I can't figure out what their tuition costs are. The brochures they sent me don't do me any good."

"France?" Raye asked surprised.

"Why would you wanna go to culinary school for anyway, Lita?" Serena asked, "You're already an ace chef; why do you need school?"

Lita looked up, "Well, I'm very good with eastern foods, but I'm not very good with western stuff. I would really like to get some professional training. That, and Dan told me about something called, 'Chili.' Sounds like a western version of Curry," the girl smirked, a sparkle came to her green eyes, "Sounds like a challenge."

The day had become late as the taller girl stepped off the bus and walked her way to her apartment. The light was fading in the night sky as she saw the orange and purple hue covering overhead. She stopped a moment as she took it in. She started to see the stars poke through the clouds.

It had been an adventure. It had been years since the Dead Moon Circus was destroyed, Rini had returned to the future, and now things were winding down. The future was clear to her what was to happen, but something had occurred to her. Where she was going to be, she realized looking back someone was missing. She couldn't put a finger on who.

She saw her mail carrier approach her apartment complex door. She recognized him, "Jake!" She waved her hand in the air and ran up to him, running up the stairs of the building to catch up, "Hey, Jake!" The somewhat older man with a moustache stopped and took notice of the girl, "Lita!" She stopped before the man and looked to him sweetly, "Any good news for me?"

The older man reached into his mail bag and quickly flipped through his organized stacks, "Ah, yes, here we are." He pulled out a single letter. He handed it to her, then proceeded to open the door of the apartment letting himself to the mailboxes. Lita looked to the front of the letter and followed him inside. She turned the letter over, it looked like one of Dan's letters…

There were no American post markings. It looked as plain as Dan's usual stationary, but was clearly still handwritten, "Wait a minute. This is from Futaba," she looked to the name, "Hey, it's from my grandfather!" She opened the letter as the mailman talked, "Oh? Your boy's been slackin' off on the letters as of late."

"His company's been beating him down," She somewhat began to read the letter as she tried to talk, "He's been real busy… w-with…" the brown haired girl trailed off as she read the letter in silence. Her face turned deathly pale as she kept reading. The girl's silence made the mail carrier turn in place to look at the lady's expression change to something he's never seen from her before, "Lita? Lita, what's the matter?" She looked to him, then to the letter again. She turned tail and began running up the stairs. Unlocking her door, she closed it quickly behind her. She sat at her kitchen table and looked at the note again…

My dear little Lightning Bug,

I know we haven't been in good contact as of late, but we had something happen you need to know about. Last week I was taking my annual checkup, and they found my white blood cells elevated. What that means is - and you better be sitting for this - I have pancreatic cancer. Worse yet, it's already spread to my liver. I already had a second opinion, and the results are conclusive.

I've arranged to head to the local Hospice. I would not normally contact you like this, but me and your grandmother didn't know how to tell you over the phone. We know you're in the middle of getting prepared for culinary school, but I need your help. Your grandmother has arranged for you to take a train. From there she'll pick you up. Please call us when you get this letter, then let us know when you're on your way.

We are so incredibly sorry about this. We hope to see you soon nevertheless.

Be swift,

Grandfather Kino

Lita felt cold. She felt a sense of panic start to creep up her chest as she dropped the letter. She ran into her bedroom and immediately pulled a suitcase and a duffle bag from her closet. She began packing clothes quickly. The sense of urgency was extreme, the back of her mind repeating over and over again as she scrambled, No, not again! I can't lose my grandpa, too! She started loading toiletries into her bag as she heard a voice call out, "Lita? Lita, are you here?"

She stopped what she was doing. She had walked from her bedroom to find Serena wandering around in her kitchen, "Oh, Lita! Good, I was hoping you didn't just leave your door unlocked," the blonde was holding a lunch bag in her hands, "You forgot this at Raye's," she handed the bag to Lita, then blushed a bit, "I cleaned out what was left in there."

"That's okay, Serena," Lita tried to calmly take the bag, "you know I don't mind." Serena looked to Lita with a smile, but there was something wrong. Serena looked to her friend and saw this rather distressed look on her face, "Hey, what's the matter?"

"Oh, well," She looked away, "It's nothing. I just got a message that… well… I have to leave for Futaba."

"Oh!" Serena said excitedly, "did you get a response from one of those culinary schools?" Lita was losing her patience. She just felt hagared about what was happening, "Serena, you ditz; the school I want to go to in in FRANCE!" She turned around and started screaming, "Can't you for one minute pay attention to anything anyone says?! Huh?"

Serena was heavily taken aback by that, tears starting to form in her eyes, "I'm sorry Lita! I was just hoping it was something good!" Lita turned around to face her friend throwing her lunch bag across the living room, shouting as she did, "When does ANYTHING good happen to me?" "Lita, what's wrong? You're never like this to anyone unless… unless you're hurt! What happened?"

Lita stood in silence for a moment as she closed her eyes. She backed into a wall and she slid down it, going into the fetal position as she reached the ground. She had tears in her eyes. Serena knelt down and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, "You wanna tell me about it?"

An hour had passed. On the kitchen table were two cups with tea bags in them. Serena took the tea kettle off the stove and proceeded to pour the hot water over the bags one cup at a time, then returned the kettle to the stove. Lita had sat at the table, face buried in her arms that were crossed on the table. Serena sat back down across from her and started talking, "I'm sorry to hear about all of this. Have you called them yet?"

"No" Lita's voice was muffled as she kept her head down. She proceeded to look up at the girl across from her, "I just got the letter as I got in. As soon as I opened it, I ran and started packing. I was going to leave tonight."

"Tonight?" Serena was dunking her tea bag in her cup as she stopped and looked at her, "Don't you think it's a bit late to head that far north? I mean, its over 200 kilometers away!"

"I know, but I can't sit by knowing grandpa's sick!" Lita was clearly worried about it. Serena released her tea bag and put a hand on her friend's, "I know you've had a hard time with your folks being gone, but to head out half-cocked is going to cause you more frustration and trouble. I know you too well, Lita." After all they had been through together, Serena had matured a great deal over time. Lita looked to her hand and then looked to Serena. Serena's saffire blue eyes sparkled in a worrisome way, hoping in a way Lita would see reason. "Please," she pleaded, "just call them. Start tomorrow. They're going to need you in your right mind if you're going to help them."

Lita nodded her head and smiled a weak smile, "You're right. I just started thinking about it and…" she sighed a hard sigh. She hung her head as she closed her eyes, "My grandparents were all I had left this whole time. After school and all the Sailor Scout duties, I just thought it would all finally calm down." She looked up and looked to Serena with glassy eyes, "They deserve better."

Serena picked up her tea and asked just before she took a sip, "How long do you think you need to be up there?"

"I don't know," Lita picked up her tea and peered into it, watching the steam rise from the lip of the cup, "I guess until things are settled. He didn't tell me anything in the letter besides the fact he has it, but…"

"But what?"

"Pancreatic is the worst kind to get. It spread to his liver which means I have very little time. It was how Dan's grandfather died."

"Are you going to tell him?" Lita looked from her cup to her. At first she acted confused as though she didn't know who she was referring to, but she quickly knew she couldn't hide that fact. All she did was shake her head, "I can't. He'll worry about me, and he's already got enough on his mind. He had a fight with his mother last month about him and his time off work."

"You still have to tell him something," Serena put her cup down and folded her hands, "After all, he cares about you. Besides, he'd need to be able to get his letters to you, right?" She giggled a little, "I mean, how else we gonna know what he's up to?"

Lita looked to her fellow Sailor Scout and couldn't help but giggle a bit herself, "Serena, I could know you for a thousand years, and you'll never change. Still," she broke eye contact with her and looked around the room, "you are right, but I can't tell him outright why I'm going. He'd drop everything and come out here. I don't want to do that to him."

"Then," Serena reached across the table and put her hand on her friend's again, "what are you going to tell him?"

July 19th, 1999

Dear Dan,

Things are going okay over here. Me and the other scouts have been hanging out since graduation doing all the things we've been wanting to do for a long time. It was fun going to Tokyo Disneyland with them, but Serena gorged herself on too many snacks and got sick. Darien had to carry her around for nearly an hour before she finally felt better. Then there was Amy and her telling us the history of Walt Disney. I mean, I've seen Snow White a million times. It ruined the experience a bit. I still say I could have been Snow White in that play; I clearly had the talent for it. I still don't know why people point to my chest and call that my talent. Really strange.

Oh, sorry. Mind wandered off. And this is my last sheet of paper, too. I'm sorry, but I'll have to leave this in the letter.

We also went to the Katsushika Iris festival and looked at all the beautiful flowers. So many different kinds of iris flowers, I just wanted to ask who planted them all and ask their secrets. I was standing by the pond in Katsushika. All I could think about was you. That night we went out when you were in Tokyo. I wish you could have been here with me when we were watching the fireworks display. I feel you felt the same way on your Independence Day recently.

I'm sorry about the argument you had with your mom. It's sounding like they're becoming more frequent as you write me. Honestly, I don't know what to say to help you, but nevertheless, I hope you two will stop it before you two say something that will really make you hate each other. You don't want that. I'm sure she doesn't either.

Things are hectic now that I need to look forward. I've been looking up culinary schools to figure out which one I want to go to, and I think I have one in mind. I miss you very much, Dan. I can't believe it's been almost 4 years since we first met. I know it bothers you whenever I bring this up, but I'll never forget how we first met. I honestly thought it was another Negaverse monster around the corner from my locker. Next thing I know, you're pulling out your Proton Pack's gun and jumping around the corner. Then I knocked you over. I'm sorry, but I just can't forget that. It showed how new of a Ghostbuster you were, but you were rather dedicated to doing your job. I couldn't help but fall in love with you, even if you were a little jumpy.

Dan, I have something I need to tell you. There's something I have to take care of in Futaba for a little while, so I'll be forwarding my letters to where I'm going to be. I'm worried about what I have ahead of me, so I would love to hear from you. Again, I'll get you the address of where I'll be at in my next letter.

Ever since you left, there was this pain inside that woke up; worse than it ever was before. When you were here, it felt like everyone disappeared around us. Scared and alone in the tower with demons that were more powerful than I was, Jedite making that doppelganger of me. I kept crying out for help. Jedite severed my link to you in that place. I feel that way now.

I love and miss you very much,

Lita