Ideas, Chances, and Wonders
Author's Ramblings: (in stereo, no less) We're here! Again! Number five! A story
to be loved and appreciated from this very moment on. Yippee for us! Yippee for
SM! Yippee in general!
DISCLAIMER OF THE DAY: It's like this: Sailor Moon ain't ours. Sailor Moon belongs
to a whole lot of people. Them people ain't us.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
THE STORY SO FAR:
Lita's 'old friend' Ken showed up and was revealed as Alice's father. Reeny
met Terrence for the first time. Andrew quit his job. Greed and Death's plan
didn't work. Haley and Hannah survived a week together.
And that, my friends, is where the story begins...
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Susan gulped and felt herself sway backwards a bit. Bound and determined not
to faint, she opened a single ruby eye and looked at the Mistress of Mercury.
Through blue-rimmed glasses, two navy eyes stared in concern at the Guardian
of Time. "Susan?"
"Did you say what... what I think you said?" asked the woman, already
knowing the answer.
Amy nodded in affirmation. "You're pregnant, Susan."
Clenching her smooth hands to fists, Susan Meiou looked to her friend and
fellow Planet Mistress. "Are you completely SURE?"
"Yes. This test was perfected years ago..." Trailing off, she began
scrawling information down onto a blank chart.
Biting a scarlet lip, Susan lapsed off into a sort of dream world. What
would Terrence think? And Alexandra and Michelle... how would they react? Hannah,
Haley, Neo-Queen Serenity, King Endymion, and all the other Mistresses... What
would this new information do to them? Would they be shocked, pleased, confused...
what?
"Amy, can I ask you something?" she meekly asked.
"Anything, Susan," the doctor responded. "You know that I'll be there for
you."
Susan nodded in agreement and gulped. "Could you be my doctor?"
Beaming at this, Amy took one of Susan's hands and squeezed it. "I've done
the same for every other Mistress... and I was just waiting for the day when it
would be my turn to help you..." Looking at the wall clock, she let the hand go
and turned back to the charts. "It's getting late. Why don't you go on home? I'll
arrange some sort of appointment for you."
Susan nodded and started towards the door. Just as her hand was about to
touch the doorknob, she turned back to look at Amy, pouring over charts and
writing recommendations and the whatnot.
"Amy?"
The doctor raised her head of blue hair, and her eyes fell on Susan's face.
"Thank you, Ames."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana walked slowly down the halls of Crystal Palace, sad.
Her father had actually left.
No one knew where he was, though Serenity suspected him to be at one of the
Mistress' homes.
That was no comfort to the young guardian cat.
"How am I supposed to function without my parents?" she asked herself, near
tears. "Me and Orb are not ready! And we'll never be!"
"Maybe we will..." Smiling, Orb jumped off a windowsill and joined his
sister in her walk. "Why are you so worried?"
Diana sighed. "I'm afraid... I don't want the Scouts to get hurt..."
"They won't," Orb reassured her, smiling sadly. "We'll figure it out, just
like Mom and Dad did... And, besides, we've still got Mom." He winked, like
Artemis had a habit of doing. "And she was the better of the guardians."
For the first time in what seemed to be days, Diana laughed.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Dancing in the cool, crisp fall breeze, a few leaves flew into Tara's raven
hair. Leaning up against a tree, the thirteen-year-old took a short break from
raking up leaves to reflect on the past weeks.
It had been almost two months since she had been handed the green and tan
Locket of Earth.
And it had been a good month since Illness had died at the hands of all six
Sailor Scouts.
And exactly one week had passed since the defeat of a black shadow monster
at the Best Buy.
"What next?" asked the girl softly, breathing in the rich scent of October.
"I've fought evil several times, and though it's quite an accomplishment... I feel
that it is more of a study in destiny..."
One stray rose petal from somewhere unseen floated into the courtyard and
landed at Tara's feet. Blood red and seemingly made of molten silk, it sat before
her.
She picked it up, smoothing the petal between her fingertips.
"Something is going to happen," she commented, throwing the partial bloom
back into the sky. "I know it is." As the petal flew out of view she smiled.
"And it's going to be good."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"We don't have that kind of money laying around, Alexandra!"
"That's what you say, but what about all the prize money I won last year?"
"Whose bright idea was it to put the winnings into stocks and bonds?"
"Michelle, you're not even listening!"
Gritting her teeth, Susan reached for the doorknob of Michelle's home
office. It was obviously a bad time, but what time would be better? After all,
she had been sick with guilt for days about the pregnancy.
The baby... Susan idly touched her stomach. What would they say? And
Terrence...
It was definitely a good time.
"Alex? Michelle?" she called, rapping lightly on the door. "Can I talk to
you guys?"
She heard rustling. "Come on in, Susan."
Susan gulped and pushed open the door, revealing the organized office.
Everything was bright and airy, and a large fish tank sat in one corner, creating
a pleasant gurgling sound. Smiling despite herself, she swept her hair to the side
and sat in a chair.
"You were arguing again."
Michelle blushed scarlet and continued sorting through papers while
Alexandra ran a hand through her hair, a look of guilt on her face.
The Guardian of Time shrugged. "It's nothing to me. But why do you guys
fight?"
"Because we're an old couple," Alex attempted, a rather fake smile crossing
her face. "That's what we're supposed to do. After all, two millennia of..."
"When people love each other, sometimes, they just do." Michelle interrupted
and looked at her friend with a thoughtful gleam in her green eyes. "Love is a
funny thing, Suse."
"Don't I know it?" Susan agreed, chewing thoughtfully on her lower lip.
Alexandra glanced at the green-haired woman and furrowed her brow. "What in
Heaven's name are you talking about, Susan?"
Sighing, Susan took a deep breath. "I have quite a story to tell you two."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Somewhere in the Galaxy, there was a great black ship. And in the ship were
four warriors and their king, each more deadly and terrifying than the last.
"Your Majesty," said a man in black, bowing deeply. "How may we serve you?"
The king, a solemn and bitter looking ruler, glared at the young man.
"Death, silence. The Spirit of Silver speaks."
From the black marble rose a silver shadow. Depending on the angle, it could
look like man, beast, spirit, or just a figment of the imagination.
"Illness was died, and no one has attempted to defeat the Sailor Scouts,"
spoke the spirit in a deep, gruff tone. "Would any of you like to explain this to
me?"
Greed, a shapely woman clad in tight green leather, curtseyed. "That is our
goal, Your... Spiritness," she stammered a bit, glancing to Death for support.
"But those Sailor Girls are far more powerful than we..."
"Don't disappoint me!" the Spirit snapped, cutting her off. "I've had enough
of you..." Unseen eyes glanced from one body to another. "All of you Raiders. You
all sit and bicker, being little more than pests to one another and to me."
The other woman, dressed in a gray dress that hung to her ankles, stepped
forward. "But..."
"Doubt, do not question me!" The Spirit began to fade out of sight. "You
must defeat the Scouts. If not, you feel my wrath!"
Covering her mouth, Greed gulped as the Spirit of Silver disappeared. "Oh
my."
"Oh my is right!" Doubt snapped, nervously playing with a strand of white
hair. "Silver's mad."
A man in red armor made a grievous face. "You are not to call the Spirit of
Silver 'Silver', Doubt!" he scolded. "The Spirit is our..."
"SHUT UP!" The King's voice echoed through the black chamber. "You are all
idiots, you know that? Imbeciles!"
Death swallowed and grabbed Greed's arm, pulling her away from the King.
"Do you realize how close we were to defeat with that Shadow Monster?" His
silver eyes flared in hatred. "Do you realize how close you came to dying at
Cherry Hill Temple?"
"We did not!" Greed protested, wrenching her arm free and walking up to the
Raider King. Her green eyes were filled with anger. "How dare you say something
like that? We scared the holy Andromeda out of those brats! And we could do it
again!"
Death grimaced, closing his eyes in dread. The King would surely kill her,
leaving but ashes for the rest of the Raiders to clean up.
Instead, the King chuckled. "Very well put, Greed," he said considerately,
smoothing her hair. "That, Raiders, is what you need to win."
There was a flash of light, and he was gone.
"Whew!" Greed let out a deep breath. "I thought I was Raider toast!"
Doubt sneered at her. "You got lucky, kid," she spat, lowering her eyes.
"That's all. Understand? All you had was luck." She faded out of existence.
"I must agree with Doubt, as much as it grieves me to do so," spoke
Violence, his red eyes focusing on the youngest, dark haired Raider. "You risked
your life and lucked out. I wouldn't gamble like that again." He turned on his
heel and strode slowly out of the chamber.
She just sniffled and turned to Death. "And I suppose you're going to yell
at me and..."
"I think, Greed, that you did very well." He wrapped a protective arm around
her. "The others didn't expect that to happen and had to chide you for it."
"Really?" she gasped, looking up at him with love in her eyes. "You think
so?"
"Greed," he softly said, holding her close, "I could never had done that.
But you did."
"Right..."
"And I am proud of you for it. I love you."
She smiled and leaned against him. "I love you too, Deathie."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"So, that's my problem, Serenity," the dark haired Priestess admitted to her
childhood friend.
The Queen of the Earth sighed and chewed on her pen cap. "That's quite the
problem," she agreed thoughtfully. "Tara surely can not take care of the entire
temple alone..."
Raye sighed. "It's actually not her that I'm so fretful about," she replied.
"But after the attack on the girls last week, I'm extremely worried."
"And I don't blame you," the Queen decided. "I just don't know how to
help..."
A small pink cat jumped onto the desk. "I have an idea, Serenity," Diana
helpfully volunteered.
"Any little bit helps," the Mistress of Mars urged. "The conference starts
in two days, and we have to get there."
"Why not have Reeny stay with Tara for the duration of the conference?" the
cat suggested. "After all, Reeny is old enough to drive, and the temple would be
well protected with Sailor Moon around." She smiled. "And think of the quiet,
tranquil air the Palace would have..."
The golden-haired Queen closed her eyes, considering this. "Quiet..." she
mumbled, smiling widely. "A nice bubble bath without noise... Hmmm..."
"How could you think that?" Orb disagreed, jumping up next to his sister.
"The Princess lives here! You shouldn't toss her out!"
Diana stuck out her tongue. "But you DON'T live here, stupid," she retorted.
"And I could use the vacation from guardianship."
The gold-eyed cat glared at his older sister. "But the Scouts need their
guardians! And Reeny needs you more than all the others do!"
Serenity opened a single blue eye and glanced at both the cats. "Raye, dear,
I love Diana's idea..."
The pink cat, gloating, beamed at her brother.
"...But Orb is right. Reeny does need someone to supervise her."
The orange cat nodded happily Diana's haughty grin faded and became a sad
frown.
The Shinto rose. "I understand, Serenity. I'm sorry that I came..."
"Hey, now," cut in the Queen, holding out a hand. "I never said I wasn't
helping."
Raye's face turned bewildered. "Then, what are you going to do?" she asked,
a bit of annoyance in her voice.
Standing, Neo-Queen Serenity smoothed her silk gown. "Reeny, Princess of the
Earth, will stay with your daughter while you and Chad are gone."
The Mistress of Mars smiled warmly at her friend. "Thank you."
"And Diana, Guardian of the Princess, will remain with Reeny during her
stay," Serenity finished. "Now, let me walk you to the Palace Gates."
As the two women left, Diana groaned and glared at her younger brother.
"This is all your fault! You and your hair-brained ideas! Why, I have half a mind
to..."
"Oh, dear," Orb mockingly interrupted, glancing at the wall clock. "Look at
the time! I bet Phoebe is wondering where I am..." He grinned evilly and jumped
off the desk. "See you at Cherry Hill, sis."
"Why...you..." she threatened, lowering her magenta eyes further. "You just
wait, Orb! I'll get you yet..."
"I'm sure," he chirped, walking to the door. "Good luck."
Diana just shook her head as the door closed behind the orange cat. "I," she
resolved, "am going to kill that cat."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Michelle dropped her stack of papers. "You're pregnant?" she echoed, biting
her lip. "How did this happen?"
The blonde woman shook her head. "When two people really love each other..."
"This is serious!" Michelle smacked Alexandra upside the head. "Susan, why
didn't you tell us the instant that Amy told you?"
"I had never even mentioned Terrence, and I was..." Susan picked at a
crimson fingernail. "I don't know, you guys. I'm sorry."
Michelle smiled lovingly and played with an aqua hair. "It's been a long
time since there was a baby in the household, you know..."
"No!" Alex sternly retorted, seeing the stars in her lover's eyes. "No."
"I didn't mean that, Alex!" Michelle informed the blonde. "What I meant was
that Susan could stay here when she has the baby."
Susan considered this, then shrugged. "I have bigger problems on my hands
right now."
Staring at the garnet eyed woman, Alexandra's jaw went slack. "Oh... OH..."
she thought aloud. "Terrence has no clue in Hell that you're going to have his
kid, does he?"
"Alex!" Michelle scolded. "I'm sure that she has the common sense to..."
Seeing the wistful gleam in Susan's eyes, she stopped. "Oh dear."
"I don't know how I should tell him," she admitted, adjusting her glasses.
"It's not like I've been through this before."
"Neither have we," noted Alex. "We had to agree before adopting Haley, but
that's...different..." She trailed off and put an arm around Michelle, sighing.
Looking up at Alex, the musician nodded. "But, whatever you do, we're here
for you."
"Right." The blonde glanced at Susan. "After all, you were the one
who...sort of...gave us Hannah. We have to repay it somehow."
Susan stood slowly. "Thanks, guys... I'm really thankful I have you."
Michelle smiled lovingly. "And we're glad that we have you..."
"Speak for yourself," muttered Alex with a wicked grin.
"Most of us, anyway..." Michelle corrected herself while making a face.
Susan chuckled and walked out of the office with a tender smile.
Alex then shook her head. "This is awfully scary," she observed as the door
closed. "Susan as a parent. It's been a long time since the girls were little...
She has absolutely no practice or preparedness with children, and now she's going
to become a mother!"
"Alex," Michelle cooed softly, "how many babies had you held before Hannah
came into our lives? How many diapers had you changed?"
The blonde looked guiltily at the floor. "You're the mom... You do that
stuff..."
Michelle shook her head. "We're both moms, which makes this an
extremely...unique...family. But you managed, and I managed, and Susan will really
manage."
"Do you really want to have another baby?" inquired Alex nervously.
Michelle laughed, her elegant laughter washing all of Alexandra's suspicions
away. "We're far too happy..."
"And old," the tall woman chimed in. "After all, over a thousand years of
life is far to old to raise..."
"Alex," the Mistress of Neptune lovingly interrupted, "shut up."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Phoebe? Are you down here?"
From her spot on the dance floor, Phoebe rolled her ice blue eyes. The
basement in their house was set up as a dance studio, but she usually could not
have more than five minutes of practice before someone-mother, father, or
sarcastic cat-interrupted her.
"Yes, Daddy," she sighed, stretching a bit as she heard footfalls on the
steps. "I was trying to dance, though..."
"And I supposed you were crocheting down here," Greg chided himself, shaking
his head of dark hair. "But this is important, Pheebs."
Taking a swig of her water, the teen contorted her face into a grimace of
mock terror. "Oh, no! The dreaded pet name! Something must be wrong!" Seeing his
face, her sarcastic tone melted away. "Unless something IS wrong... Oh my."
Sitting on an old folding chair, Greg stared at his teen daughter. "You
can't tell your mom about this. Okay?"
"Why," Phoebe asked with a hint of resentment in her voice, "would I want to
talk to HER?"
"Not the point," he retorted without a pause. "Your dramatic antics can
really let the cat out of the bag, and you know it. You can't tell her."
"I understand..." she nodded, pulling the rubber band out of her hair.
Cascades of midnight blue hair fell about her face and down to her waist. "Now,
what in the Sun's name is wrong?"
Fiddling with his wedding ring, Greg grimaced. "I got a great job promotion
today," he told her.
"Wow," the girl sarcastically put in. "I'll be sure not to tell Mom such
awful and grievous news. She just might curl up and..."
"Give me a chance to finish," he cut in, lowering his brown eyes. "Don't
interrupt until I say okay. Got it?"
She made a face, but said nothing more.
"My job promotion would be-by far-the best thing to happen to this family
since your mother walked down the aisle with yours truly," he solemnly continued.
"But, we would have to move."
"To where?" she asked at his pause. "To, like, Juuban district? To the
opposite end of Tokyo?"
"To the United States of America," Greg finished. "To the USA."
"No way!" exclaimed Phoebe with an elated grin. "Pack your bags, Dad!
This'll be SO much fun!"
"Okay," he cut in, "that is far enough. Think of all the repercussions of us
moving, Pheebs."
"The Scouts..." she sighed, leaning against the wall with a sigh. "My
school, my friends, my life..."
Greg rolled his eyes. "And your mother, Phoebe. Your mother." He glanced
thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Her hospital, her job of being a Planet Mistress...
it's all right here."
"You couldn't possibly take her away from it," the teen agreed, playing with
a loose thread on her leotard. "But, Dad, this is such a great opportunity..."
"And therein lies the problem," he commented wistfully. "Something-someone-
will be hurt, no matter what choice I take."
Phoebe shrugged. "I have no words of wisdom to give you, Dad. I don't even
know where I stand in the matter."
"Obviously," he mumbled, wrapped up in his own thoughts.
"But I'm with you," she continued, "win or lose, move or not."
"Thanks, Pheebs," he smiled a bit, standing slowly. "Just, don't mention
this to anyone. Not even the cat."
"He's just a cat," she pointed out.
Greg shook his head. "He's a loud-mouthed TALKING cat, Phoebe. Don't even
think about it. Understand?"
"Understood," she nodded. "See you later?"
"Yep," he responded, walking up the basement steps.
As she began to stretch again, a voice chimed in. "Tough thing that your pop
has to do. If I were you, I'd stay here."
"Orb!" Phoebe whirled around and glared at the orange and white cat who was
sitting innocently in the chair where Greg had been just moments ago. "Damn you!"
"Oooh, strong words from the girl who never swears," he mocked with a laugh.
"What are you going to do? 'Heat Flash' me to death?"
She growled. "Why were you listening in, anyway? What's it to you?"
"I'm the Queen's cat, too," he commented. "I need to tell her all I hear..."
"No!" Phoebe interrupted. "You mention anything you heard outside of this
very room, you're lunch meat!"
"And," continued the cat with a wicked grin, "you have mice-tasty mice-
living down here."
She rolled her eyes and hit herself in the forehead. "You mean that you
weren't eavesdropping to be evil?"
"Don't tell Diana," he sighed, "but no. I was innocently eating mice and
heard your whole conversation." He smiled up at her. "Forgive me?"
"Forgiven," she agreed with a smile. "Now, will you leave me alone to
dance?"
"Sure," he responded, jumping off of the chair. "But- quick catch of the
day-your toe kicks need work."
Avoiding the ballet slipper that was thrown at him, Orb ran upstairs.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Everything's fine, Mom," Tara assured the Priestess, putting another suitcase
in the trunk. "We've got it under control."
"And, even if they don't," Diana chimed in. "I do, Mars. So have a great time
at the Shinto Conference."
Raye still looked fretful. Flipping a bit of hair behind her back, she glanced
at the two teen girls. "Are you guys sure?"
Rolling his hunter green eyes, Chad wrapped an arm around his wife. "They're
fine. You're paranoid. Now, get in the car."
"Chad's right," Reeny chimed in. "I mean, you've known me forever! Aren't I
responsible enough?"
The couple looked at one another and burst out laughing.
"I mean it!" the Princess yelped, glaring at them. "I took care of the whole
Palace once!"
"And you remember what happened, don't you?" Diana asked with mockery in her
voice.
Reeny stuck out her tongue. "You know quite well that the itty bitty grease
fire was NOT my fault!"
The dark haired Priestess stopped laughing. "Grease fire? Maybe we should
stay..."
Opening the car door, Chad gently pushed his wife inside. "There are extra
keys to the temple under the counter by the bells, but be careful with them. There's
two hundred dollars in cash hidden in the Luna cookie jar, and...hmm..."
"Our day to burn leaves is tomorrow, don't leave the computer on if there's an
electrical storm, be sure to do the laundry, feed the iguana..." Tara smiled at her
father. "We'll be fine, Father. Don't worry, alright?"
He nodded and gave her a hug. "If you say so, Tara..." he agreed, looking into
her green eyes. "Just be careful."
"Of course," she agreed.
Climbing into the driver's seat of the car, Chad took one long look at the two
girls and one cat. "I'll call tomorrow, Tara. So long, Diana, Princess."
"Reeny!" The pink haired girl prepared to throw a tantrum. "My name is Reeny!"
As the red Audi pulled away from the curb and into the street, Tara sighed.
"This will be one interesting stretch of four days."
"Do you think we should have an all-Scout party?" the Princess asked, sticking
her hands in her back pockets.
Diana glared at her charge. "No parties, Reeny! No way!"
Tara shrugged. "I'll think about it." Noticing the trails of steam that her
breath was leaving in the air, the younger girl made a face. "Can we go inside,
though? I'm freezing."
"Good idea," the cat remarked. "I could use a nice cup of cream..."
The trio all smiled and started up the stairs to Cherry Hill Temple.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It was a typical fall day in Crystal Tokyo as Richard Umino accompanied his
mother to Crystal Palace. Well, maybe not so typical, after all... An eighteen-year-
old boy walking towards the Palace-with or without his mother-was quite atypical.
"Lyra! Hey, Lyra!" Richard called, seeing a familiar head of curls bob past
him. Getting no response from the blonde, he cleared his throat. "Lyra Mokoti!" he
yelled to her.
His mother, a woman in her forties with red hair and smiling blue eyes,
smiled. "You like her."
"Mother," he growled as the girl waved and started towards her friend, "she's
just a friend."
"And I used to say such a thing about your father," she returned in her
Brooklyn accent.
"Hello Richard!" Lyra smiled. "I haven't seen you for a couple of days, and
you've been missing Astronomy Club again."
"Really, now?" His mother glared up at him. "What have you been staying after
school for, then?"
"Mom," he groaned, blushing. "Not in front of Lyra, please."
"This is your mother?" asked Lyra with a warm grin. "Hello, Mrs. Umino. I'm
Lyra Motoki, a student at Crossroads." She extended a hand.
"Call me Molly, please," she responded, shaking the warm hand. "It's funny you
mention Crossroads. I graduated from there."
"Really?" the girl inquired. "That's so cool!"
Richard rolled his blue eyes. "Lyra, I hate to be a party pooper, but my
mother has a meeting with Neo-Queen Serenity soon."
"I just came from the Palace," the teen sighed. "But Reeny wasn't there."
"You know Reeny?" Molly asked, shocked beyond reasonable belief. "You don't
happen to be related to Andrew Mokoti, do you?"
Lyra nodded, her brown eyes smiling. "I'm his daughter."
Biting her lip, Molly nodded, too. "Well, it was nice to meet, you. I hope to
be seeing more of you."
"Bye, Rich!" she smiled. "Nice to meet you, Molly!" Lyra started off in the
direction she had originally been going.
Richard looked at his mother with curiosity gleaming in his blue eyes. "What
was all that about?" he asked.
Jarring herself from personal thoughts, Molly looked up at her son. "Excuse
me?"
"You heard me," he condescendingly spat. "Why was her last name so important?"
"I know," began Molly, "more about that girl than you do. I know more about
Lyra than her parents do. I," she softly said, "know more about Lyra Star Mokoti
than even SHE knows." She sighed. "And you'll find out."
He ran a hand through his dark red hair. "When?" he questioned.
His mother nodded. "Soon enough, Richard. Soon enough."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Mom! Mom!" called Hannah, dropping her purse on the floor by the door. "Mom!"
"Shh," hissed Susan from her spot on the couch. "Your sister is asleep."
The young woman glanced at the clock. "It's two p.m. Why in Heaven's name is
Haley still asleep?"
Michelle entered the room with a large cup of tea. "Because she was playing
Nintendo games till three in the morning again."
"What?" Hannah scratched her head. "That makes absolutely no sense, Mom. That
girl, as stubborn as she is, has a whole lot of common sense."
Susan sighed and readjusted her position. "A certain Guardian of Time told
your 'Papa', Alexandra, not to purchase a certain evil video game system. But,
Alexandra did not listen, and..."
"Shut up, Susan," spat Alex, rubbing her temples. "I already have a headache."
Running a hand through her shoulder-length black hair, Hannah raised an
eyebrow. "Did I miss something?"
"Alex was playing some sort of racing game this morning and made herself dizzy
with it." Michelle sipped her tea with a sigh. "Susan is sick for...reasons that we
will later discuss...and I am perfectly fine." She shrugged. "How was your brunch
with Brian and his family?"
"Good," Hannah admitted. "But he wants to have dinner with you guys really
soon."
"Oh dear," thought Michelle aloud. "I'm not sure that I am fully prepared to
meet my oldest child's boyfriend..."
Alexandra sat next to Michelle on the piano bench and wrapped an arm around
her. "The only problem I see is preparing Brian for the shock of our family
arrangement."
"What shock?" Footsteps sounded on the stairs as Haley entered the room, clad
in comet pajamas. "What's so scary about us?" she looked at Hannah with love in her
teal eyes. "I mean, so what if you have two mothers? And an aunt? We all love you,
so it solves the problem at hand."
"Or starts the problem all over again," responded her sister. "This is a lot
different an arrangement than he has. I mean, his mom and dad remind me of Mom and
Mom... except..."
"They're not the same gender," cut in Haley. "Get over it."
"And you'd adore his brother, Haley," the Mistress of Saturn finished.
Michelle leaned against Alexandra and stared lovingly at her daughter.
"Perhaps, Hannah, you're afraid that he'll think less of you." She smiled sadly.
"Am I right?"
Hannah nodded and ran her hands through her black hair. "I suppose so..."
"You'd love him the same if he was in your place," Susan commented. "What's
the difference?"
"Can he please come over for dinner?" Hannah asked, a bit of valor in her
voice. "Will you let him join us?"
"Tomorrow night," Alexandra smiled.
"Definitely," Susan agreed.
"Neat!" Haley put in.
Michelle was very quiet. "Only if Terrence comes."
"EXCUSE ME?" The Guardian of Time's jaw went slack as she sat straight up.
"What did you just say?"
"I said," repeated Michelle, "that Brian can come if Terrence does." She
smiled wickedly at Susan. "I'm sure that we all want to meet Susan's boyfriend."
"SUSAN'S BOYFRIEND?" gasped both Hannah and Haley in unison.
Susan blushed and looked at the ground. "Here we go again..." she muttered,
beginning the whole story of Terrence.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"I'm bored," sighed Greed, walking down the street of Crystal Tokyo. "Who
would have guessed that this big old city would be so boring?"
Death rolled his black eyes. "Do you ever stop complaining?"
"Nope!" she chirped, latching onto his arm. "How about we get a bite to eat
and then go to that cute temple?"
"The temple again?" he asked in dread. "Last time we were there, we had a
run-in with the Sailor Scouts."
"That's the plan!" she informed him, green eyes flashing in determination.
"Revenge will be ours!"
Shaking his head slowly, Death glanced at the angular wonder that was Crystal
Palace. Would the Raiders ever sit inside the Palace and look out on their people-
their slaves? Would they succeed? Or would doom once again rule their lives?
"Hey, this place looks good!" Greed called, snapping him to attention. "It's
called 'Jupiter's Delight'! Reminds me of all the Greek mythology stuff that Doubt
briefed us on..." she stared at the friendly-looking restaurant. "Want to go in?"
"I suppose so," sighed Death, freeing his arm from her grasp and wrapping it
around her. "I'm just as hungry as you are..."
"Good!" she announced, leading him to lunch.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Do you want fries with that?" asked Alice, scribbling on the tiny pad of
paper before her.
The man at the table shook his head and handed the menu over to the auburn-
haired teen. "And be sure to hold the pickles."
Making a face, the girl turned and walked to the front of the restaurant,
muttering to herself. "This isn't fair," she grumbled, tossing the menu into a bin.
"Why doesn't Mom deal with her own restaurant?"
From his spot at the front podium of 'Jupiter's Delight', Ken rolled his
chocolate eyes. "Do you think I like to do this, Al?"
"But..." she began.
"Not 'buts'..." he interrupted. "'Buts' are for people who aren't willing to
dream." Shaking his head, he smiled thoughtfully. "Outside in the world, there are
ideas that don't involve 'buts'. They involve 'ands'."
Alice sighed and groaned inwardly. Philosophy with Ken around didn't always
make a whole lot of sense. "Dad, I was just saying that my ankle hurts again," she
lied. "I guess you took it the wrong way."
"Oh," was his response.
Just then, a young couple walked in. The woman had long, braided black hair
and a tight green dress on. Her companion wore a black suit. His black hair and eyes
seemed impossibly familiar...
"Table for two," the man said in a low, throaty tone. "Please."
Ken nodded and looked at the table chart. "Hmm... Table 12. Alice will show
where it is. Alice?"
She wasn't listening, but staring at the couple. Why did she have a nagging
feeling of déjà vu that she had previously met them? Who were they?
"Alice Aurora Kino!" Ken hollered, snapping her back to reality. "Can you
please show this couple to table 12?"
Nodding, Alice grabbed two menus and led them to the table. It was by a window
a rather nice. "Our specials today is my mother's homemade meatloaf, cherry pie, and
smoked salmon," she automatically told them, taking out a pad of paper. "Can I start
you out with a drink?"
They both ordered coffee and sent the teen on her marry way to wait on more
tables.
Instead, Alice went to the phone and quickly dialed Phoebe's phone number.
"Hey, Pheebs, it's Al," she impatiently said when her friend picked up the
phone. "I need you to come over to my mom's restaurant. I have this really funny
feeling in my stomach about two customers..."
"Really?" inquired Phoebe through the phone. "Why?"
Alice gulped and felt herself tremble. "I think... I think that they might be
Raiders..."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Richard looked at his mother through the Palace security gate. "You sure you
want to go alone?"
She laughed in her high laugh and then glanced lovingly at her son. "I'll be
fine, Richard... The Palace was a second home to me before you were born."
"Really?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, really," she replied in her New York accent. "Don't worry about me. Go
hang out with that cute Lyra girl or something."
"Mother," he blushed, "she's just a friend..."
Molly shook her head and smiled knowingly. "I see the stars you get in your
eyes when you see her, even for a moment." She winked. "But, that's alright with me.
Had to happen sooner or later..."
He smiled back at her, not knowing exactly what to believe. Turning from the
Palace gates, he glanced at Tokyo.
A fall breeze ruffled his hair lightly as he looked at the busy city. Flowers
still bloomed despite the October cold, and people still ran around in tank tops.
What a wonderful world they lived in... Full of peace and tranquillity...
And somewhere out there was a beautiful girl named Lyra Mokoti.
Richard Umino shrugged and decided to pay that sweet, beautiful girl a visit,
just like his mother had suggested.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Reeny! Come back here!" yelled Tara as the Princess ran across the temple
courtyard with her broom. "You'll..." The Shinto grimaced as the pink-haired girl
tripped over her red and white temple robes and ended up in a pile of leaves.
"...trip and fall..."
The Princess climbed to her feet and groaned. "I will never again even THINK
about playing keep-away with brooms," she muttered, brushing leaves off her robes.
"That hurt! Who would have guessed that the ground would be so hard?"
"It's cement," replied Tara without sarcasm. "It's SUPPOSED to be hard."
Reeny just stuck out her tongue and resumed sweeping.
"Girls!" called a familiar voice. "Girls!" Diana came running out of a temple
building with Reeny's Locket of the Moon around her own cat neck. "We're needed at
Lita's restaurant right away!"
"Lita?" inquired Tara, confused.
"Mistress of Jupiter," Reeny responded. Then, she turned to her cat. "What's
wrong?"
Diana sighed and shook the locket off her neck. "It turns out that the Raiders
are there."
"WHAT?" asked both girls in unison.
"Greed and Death are eating lunch at the restaurant. Confused me, too, but I
guess they were on their way to elsewhere."
"We planning an ambush or what?" Reeny scooped up her locket.
"I think we should just run over there. Check it out. Ambush them once we're
all at Lita's," suggested Tara helpfully. "We don't want to upset the other Scouts
until the last possible second."
"And we don't want Chibi-Star showing up prematurely," agreed Reeny.
Diana raised an eyebrow. "What about the Starlit Prince?"
"Oh, HE can show up when ever he wants," she grinned, stars in her eyes. "I
like him."
Rolling her eyes, Tara looked nervously at her watch. "Can we PLEASE get
going, guys?"
Diana nodded. "Let's go!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Richard smiled.
He had been wandering down streets in the most suburban area of Tokyo when
something began subconsciously nag him. The feeling refused to stop until he found
Lyra's big, white house on Venus Road.
And then, he smiled.
Lyra was sitting on the still-green grass of her front yard, teaching a little
brown haired girl to cartwheel. The afternoon sunlight reflected off her dark blonde
hair and made her brown eyes sparkle.
"Come on, Becky! You can do it!" she cheered as the younger girl attempted a
cartwheel...and fell on her rear-end.
Becky sniffled. "I'm just no good at this, Lyra!" she said, on the verge of
tears.
"You can do it," Richard bravely called to the girl, smiling and walking
toward the two girls. "It takes a lot of practice, but..." He turned a perfect
cartwheel in the grass and landed on his feet.
Lyra smiled, blushing a tiny bit. "Better than I could ever do, Rich..." she
told him, leaning back on her elbows.
He smiled back at her. "Can I ask you a quick question, Lyra?" he inquired
bravely.
"Like what?" she requested, curiosity sparkling in her eyes.
Eyeing Becky, who was watching from her vintage point in a pile of leaves,
Richard grimaced. "Well, is there a place that's a bit less...open to Becky's
marauding eyes?"
Lyra nodded and led him to the sidewalk, a good fifty feet from the child-
infested leaves. "What's up, Rich? You look extremely nervous..."
He gulped and looked down at her. He had a good foot on her, but he didn't
care. His mother's words leapt back at him.
'I see the stars you get in your eyes when you see her.'
"Lyra, would you like to see a movie with me tomorrow night?" he requested,
smiling at her and pushing his glasses up on his nose.
She jumped a bit and appeared to be taken aback. "Are you serious?" she
quietly asked, staring a bit at him. "You, an upper-classman, want to take a ninth-
grader to a movie?"
"If you want to go," he responded, a hint of sadness in his deep voice. "I
would really like it if you would come..."
"Of course!" she told him, a grin crossing her face. "I would absolutely love
to!" Stars filled her brown eyes as she stared up at him.
Just then, a boy's head popped out of the front door. "LYRA! PHONE!" the
little boy screamed, loud enough for the whole street to hear. "PULL YOURSELF AWAY
FROM THAT BOY AND COME TALK TO ALICE!"
The blonde blushed. "I have a call, and since Alice's working today..."
"It must be important," he finished for her. "That's fine. I'll pick you up at
eight, alright?"
"Alright!" she grinned, running towards the house. "Bye, Rich!"
"Bye..." he trailed off, smiling to himself. "Bye..."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Damn Raiders," muttered Haley, arriving at the restaurant. "And the movie was
just getting to the good part!"
Alice lowered her eyes and led the last Scout to the large party room near the
back of her mother's restaurant. "Don't you start, Haley," she hissed. "I am really
not in a good mood."
"Is it your ankle again?" the eldest Scout asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, and just everything with Artemis lately..." she shrugged. "No bother,
though."
In the room, Reeny was desperately trying to draw up a plan with Phoebe's
help. Unfortunately, not much good was coming out of the arrangement.
"You guys," Lyra stressed, "why are you so set on getting a plan?"
"Let's just beat them up!" Alice put in, sitting on the edge of a table. "I
still have two hours to put in of work, anyway."
Tara rolled her green eyes. "And I suppose that your mother would be pleased
if you were to blow up her restaurant in the process."
"Bite me, Yuuichirou," was the auburn-headed girl's responce. "You're such a
little..."
"Stop it!" Lyra shot at Alice. "You be nice! Tara hasn't done anything wrong
today!"
Reeny looked at the blonde with a wicked gleam in her red eyes. "Mokoti's
being feisty today!"
"I think that Alice is right," Phoebe added to the noise. "After all, we can't
wait for them to get us. That's suicide."
Haley, who was staring at the five other Scouts but not really listening,
cleared her throat.
"The most important thing is that we stop bickering," she softly said, looking
at her five friends. "How can we get along as Scouts if you act like this."
The pink-haired Princess, the tall Shinto, the happy-go-lucky blonde, the
dramatic intellectual, and the impulsive cook all stopped their separate fighting
and looked at Haley.
"Thank you. Now, here's the plan," she continued strongly. "Alice is right.
We're going to ambush the Raiders, but we're going to do it in style. None of this
slaughter stuff that half of you are so attuned to." She let her teal eyes fly from
Scout to Scout. "Understand?"
"I guess," Reeny spoke up from the center of the group. "But will it work?"
"Worth a try," put in Phoebe with a grin. "After all, I'll try anything once."
"Okay, then," Alice said, jumping up. "Let's do it, Scouts!" She held up her
locket. "Aurora Borealis Galactic Power..."
"Moon Galactic Power..."
"Comet Galactic Power..."
"Polaris Galactic Power..."
"Phoenix Galactic Power..."
"Earth Galactic Power..."
"MAKE UP!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Can I talk to you?" Greg nervously asked, standing in the doorway of his
wife's office.
Amy turned around and looked at him. His black hair was a bit disheveled, and
his dark eyes seemed sad. He was tall, muscular... But inside was still the nervous
Crystal Carrier that she had once fell so far in love with. "Is something wrong,
Greg?" she asked, concern in her voice.
Greg gulped and sat in a chair next to his wife. "Yeah, something is. It's
work..."
"Oh, dear," Amy commented, staring at him with her ocean blue eyes. "Did you
get fired?"
He shook his head. "Promoted to another office."
"Wow!" she exclaimed, beaming. Seeing the far-off and disappointed look in his
eyes, her smile melted into a frown.
"We'd have to move to the states," he told her, sadness in his voice. "We'd
have to leave everything we have."
Amy gulped, tears coming into her eyes. "I see..."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Greed smiled as she sipped her coffee. "This human food isn't half bad, you
know."
"Yeah. And this cherry pie tastes very good," admitted her companion as he
finished off his dessert. "We should do this more often."
She raised an eyebrow. "Eat?"
"No," he chuckled. "I mean go out. Do things. Like a human couple would."
She smiled, love in her green eyes. "That would be very nice, actually. I
really enjoy spending some time with you... I mean, other than the time we spend
planing the downfall of Earth."
"Yeah," he responded with a sigh. "Do you ever stop to think that this might
be wrong?"
"Wrong?" she asked in horror. "Why would it be wrong?"
Death shrugged and sipped his water with a thoughtful expression on his dark
face. "Well, we're ruining other people's lives. We were all mad when Illness
died... But we're going to kill people the same way the Scouts killed him."
"I see what you mean," she nodded, biting a fingernail. "But, we're doing this
to save our people. I'm sure they all understand...somehow..."
"We should explain it," thought Death aloud. "We should tell the Sailor
Scouts..."
"Tell us what?" came a voice.
Greed groaned and snapped her fingers, changing her human clothing into her
tight green leather ensemble. "Not you again... Can't we just eat lunch in peace?"
For her spot in the doorway, Sailor Moon thought about this. "Well, you do
need to eat..."
"MOON!" yelled Sailor Aurora Borealis, making a face. "They're evil,
remember?"
"But Death's so cute..." Moon muttered, playing with the red bow that spanned
across her chest. "We wouldn't want him to starve to death..."
"We are the Sailor Scouts!" yelled Sailor Phoenix, stepping forward. "We're
here to bust your butts!"
Sailor Earth rolled her green eyes. "Good one," she sighed.
Looking at the Scouts with his black eyes, Death raised a hand. "Dark rain!"
Black, searing liquid began falling from the ceiling and onto the six Scouts.
"Damn!" hollered Comet as the hot fluid hit her bare arms. "That is so damn
hot! Damn! Damn!"
"Enough!" muttered Phoenix, trying to avoid the rain. "It's bad that we're
being burnt, fine... WE DO NOT NEED YOUR SWEARING!"
Sailor Earth glared at the two Raiders. They were laughing as the Scouts
whined about the burns they were receiving.
"Earthly Thunderstorm... STRIKE!" she yelled, black hair flying about her.
Lightning, rain, and hail fell onto the two Raiders... and onto the Scouts,
cooling down the dark rain.
"Good idea, Earth!" Sailor Polaris commented without sarcasm. "We're not
getting burnt any more!"
Aurora Borealis rang some water from her lavender skirt. "Now, we're getting
soaked."
"Masochist," muttered Earth under her breath.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Aurora Borealis shot back, virtually
forgetting about the rain.
Earth smiled sweetly. "Nothing..."
"A little rain won't stop them for long," observed Sailor Comet. "Why don't
we double team them, Phoenix?"
Sailor Phoenix considered this. "I like that idea a lot, Comet. Shall we?"
Greed, who was busy covering her sword to keep it from rusting, looked at the
Scouts in horror. "Uh-oh," she muttered to Death.
Due to his attempting to stop the thunderstorm, Death ignored her.
"Comet Crater..."
"Phoenix Heat..."
"Death?" called Greed, pulling on his shirtsleeve. "DEATH?"
"CLOSE!"
The floor opened up below the two Raiders.
"FLASHING!"
Steam and fire erupted from Sailor Phoenix's outstretched hands and flew
towards Death and Greed.
Looking over at Greed, Death realized that he was practically floating above
the ground. "Uh... Bye!"
Both Raiders disappeared, and the two Scouts groaned as their attacks
destroyed a table.
Aurora Borealis closed her eyes. "Mom is going to kill us..." she muttered,
shaking her head.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Michelle, have you seen my suit?" asked Alexandra from inside the closet. "I
can't find it for the life of me."
The aquamarine haired woman walked out of the bathroom and looked at Alex. "I
took it to the cleaners, dear."
"WHAT?" She stared at the musician. "You did WHAT?"
Michelle sighed. "I took it to the cleaners, Alex. Don't worry, though-I
bought you this really cute dress you'll love..."
"Dress?" she repeated. "You bought me a dress?"
"It's a gold, sleeveless dress. Just screams your name to me," Michelle
continued. "Really cute. You can wear the amber earrings that I gave you for your
last birthday and then... Hmm... Maybe that cute silver necklace with the navy
stone? I don't know..."
"A dress," Alexandra sighed. "What possessed you to buy a dress?"
Playing with an aqua strand of hair, Michelle wrapped her arms around Alex's
neck. "Because you have to look gorgeous to meet Brian, dear one. After all, he's
Hannah's boyfriend."
"I always sort of...hoped...that Hannah would stay younger longer," admitted
the blonde, stroking Michelle's hair. "It's so heart-wrenching to see them grow up."
"I know..." Michelle rested her head on Alex's shoulder. "But, sometimes,
that's just the way it is. Think of how all the other Mistresses feel."
"The other Mistresses have younger children," was Alexandra's annoyed
response. "The other Mistresses can have children still..."
"And so could we," Michelle responded.
"No." The blonde hugged her lover close. "As much as I hate them growing up, I
wouldn't have it any other way."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Hannah stood alone on the front porch, pacing nervously.
"What is he going to say?" she asked herself aloud. "I mean, how can I explain
to him that I have lesbian mothers, a sarcastic adopted Sailor Scout sister, and a
pregnant, single aunt whose boyfriend's joining us and doesn't know about the baby?"
She adjusted her glasses. "I'll scare him off."
The door opened behind her, and the young woman whirled around to see Susan
step out. "Does this dress make me look fat?" she half-jokingly inquired, modeling
the long crimson dress she was wearing. Already, just a tiny bit of baby-girth was
starting to show.
"How pregnant are you?" asked Hannah, staring.
Susan grimaced. "That bad, huh?" Looking down at herself, she shrugged. "A
little over a month. Plus, Mistresses have a gestation period of..."
"Six months. I know." The younger woman glanced up at her aunt. "Are you going
to tell Terrence tonight?"
The Guardian of Time bit her lip, a tear coming to her eye. "It's not easy..."
she commented, looking at Hannah. "To have such a secret and not be able to tell the
person who most needs to know." She sighed. "But something good is bound to come out
of this. I know it."
"Something good," echoed Hannah, staring into the setting sun.
"Out in the world, Hannah, there are ideas. There are chances. And then, there
are wonders. They're held in our minds, to come out at a moment's notice." Susan
wrapped an arm around her niece. "Ideas, chances, wonders. And each are born in the
mind of a child." She sighed. "Maybe in my child, there will be some. Maybe, when
you have children, they will be in your child's mind. Only time will tell."
"Susan," Hannah softly said. "I know I never tell it to you, or to my moms, or
to Haley, but I love you all so much."
"And we love you," thought the Guardian of Time aloud.
Just then, a white car pulled into the driveway.
Hannah smiled apprehensively. "It's Brian," she told Susan.
The taller woman detached herself from Hannah. "I'll go inside, dear one. Good
luck."
"Thanks," Hannah responded, watching the front door close behind her aunt.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Richard stood on the doorstep, staring at the door in front of him. Lyra's
door. The door into Lyra's house.
"What if her parents think I'm a total idiot?" he asked the door. "What if she
hates me? What if she doesn't want to date me?"
"And what," came a small voice, "happens if all your 'what ifs' drag you from
something truly great?" A little blonde girl popped out from behind a bush. "You
don't get it, do you?"
Richard looked down at the child, who was probably about the age of six. Her
hair was corn-silk blonde, and her eyes were the color of spring clover. "Who are
you, little one?" Something in her eyes sparked recognition...
She stuck out her tongue. "Celeste, silly! Don't you remember the pizza
parlor?"
"How could I forget?" he rhetorically asked, ruffling her hair. "Nice to see
you again, kid."
The little girl just grinned mischievously and threw open the door. "HEY
EVERYBODY! LYRA'S DATE IS HERE!" she called, walking inside.
A short blonde woman wearing an orange apron and a large red bow in her hair
appeared from the next room. "Well, hello Richard. Come on in." As he walked into
the house, she offered a hand. "I'm Mina Mokoti, but you can call me Mrs. Mokoti."
"Nice to meet you," he politely said, shaking her hand. "I've heard a lot
about you."
She raised an eyebrow. "How ironic. We've hardly heard anything about you."
"Come off it, Mina," called another voice. "You'll scare the poor boy." A
tall, blonde man with the same brown eyes as Lyra had entered and smiled warmly.
"I'm Andrew, which you can be sure and call me."
"Hello," Richard cordially responded, gulping. "I was just telling Mrs. Mokoti
how much I've heard about you."
Andrew's smile grew wider as he shrugged. "Well, that's our little Lyra. Such
a chatterbox, she is. Sit down, Richard-she's not quite ready yet."
Gulping, he pushed up his glasses and then proceeded to sit on the edge of the
couch. He nervously toyed with the edge of his jacket while Mina talked.
"Now, I'm assuming that you'll be very good to our little girl tonight," she
said. "After all, her birthday is in about four months, which means that, right now,
she's only fourteen."
Richard attempted a smile. "I know that," he responded. "She mentioned her
birthday once at Astronomy Club."
"Good for her," continued Mina, not without sarcasm in her voice. "You cannot
be out past eleven at night, and be sure to carry mace spray."
Andrew lowered his eyes. "Mina..."
"No monkey business, either," she told the young man in a lower tone. "She's
younger than you, so I don't want..."
Celeste ran into the living room and threw herself onto Mina's lap, providing
a rather large distraction. "Can I go to the temple for a little while?" she
inquired, eyes wide. "The Princess is there!"
"I suppose," was her mother's response. "Be careful on your bike, though."
Celeste clambered off her mother's lap, winked knowingly at Richard, and ran
out of the house.
Mina smiled again. "Now, if you should need anything, be sure to call us. If
anything happens, call us. If you just want to talk, call..."
"MA!" came a teen voice. "Are you trying to scare my date witless?"
Richard took a breath of relief upon seeing Lyra on the stairs. Her curly hair
was pulled back by a loose orange ribbon that flowed freely down her back. She
clothing consisted of a pair of black dress pants and a too-big orange sweater. He
smiled widely. She looked positively...gorgeous, he decided.
"Lyra," Mina sternly informed her daughter, "I think he's a bit to old for
you."
"Mina!" hissed Andrew through clenched teeth. "Cut it out, alright?"
An expression of mock innocence crossed her lovely face. "Who, me? Did I say
something wrong?"
Lyra rolled her brown eyes. "Of course not, Ma. Come on, Rich." She tugged on
his jacket sleeve and started out the door.
"And be sure not to have too many sweets!" Mina called after them.
Andrew, who had followed the young couple out the front door, shook his in
exasperation. "Ignore her. She's a ravenous viper when it comes to the kids," he
told Richard, reaching into his pants pockets. He pulled out a fifty-dollar bill and
handed it to the young man. "Now, don't spend this all in one place."
Lyra blushed. "Dad..." she growled.
"What?" Andrew asked. "Now, one more thing."
Richard dreaded knowing what that 'one thing' would be.
"Have fun."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Brian was a blonde haired man. His copper eyes were rimmed by stylish black
glasses, and he was rather short; Hannah had a good three inches on him. But,
besides that, he looked rather mature for his age of twenty one.
"I hope your relatives like well-burnt apple pie," he told Hannah with a sly
grin. "My mother insisted on baking a pie, but she can't cook."
Hannah giggled and smiled lovingly at him. "Can we talk?"
Brian raised an eyebrow. "Talk? Oh dear. When women usually want to talk..."
"I don't mean it like that, sweetie," she told him, sitting on the porch
swing. "But, I need to warn you about something."
"Like what?" he asked, totally confused beyond reason.
Hannah sighed. Here it came. The truth. The story. Her family.
"Well, for starters, my sister is adopted. And so am I." She gulped. The
easiest part was out in the open.
He put his hand on hers. "That's not a big deal..."
"It gets worse," she attempted. "I also have an aunt... Well, kind of. She's
just a really close family friend who lives with us." Hannah played with a splinter
on the swing. "She's single, pregnant, and a bit on the sarcastic side..."
Brian raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem phased. "That's nothing all that
awful..."
"Her boyfriend, the brother of King Endymion and father of the baby, is coming
tonight. To make matters worse, he doesn't know that his girlfriend is going have
his child." Hannah leaned back against the swing. "But that's not the worst part,
Brian. I mean, you would probably still care about me if those details were the only
weird things about my family, but..."
He looked at her. "What is wrong, Hannah? You seem to be avoiding the question
at hand."
She sighed, nearly crying. "I... My... Umm... It's like this," she stammered,
staring into his copper eyes. "I have two parents."
"Really? I never would have guessed." Brian's voice was filled with a loving
sarcasm. "Now, will you PLEASE explain all this to me before I am forced to burst
into your house and figure it all out for myself?"
Hannah sighed and felt herself tremble. Smoothing her long, black skirt, she
took a deep breath. "My parents aren't just any parents... They're Alexandra and
Michelle, two lesbians."
He looked at her, still a bit confused. "Hannah, is that all? Did you actually
that I'd be the least bit phased?" Wrapping an arm around her, he smiled. "You never
mentioned a father, but always said 'parents' in plural. I thought...maybe...that
was your general position, but I didn't mention it." He shrugged. "I thought it
might have been a moot point."
Blinking back tears, Hannah shook her head. "You're too smart for me," she
smiled sadly. "Doesn't it bother you, though? That my family isn't normal?" She
stared into his bright bronze eyes, still trying not to cry.
Brian shrugged. "Hannah, I love you. It doesn't matter who raised you. I
wouldn't care if you were raised by Serenity herself, or by the poorest man in the
world. I wouldn't care if you were raised by aliens, or Sailor Scouts, or Planet
Mistresses."
Flushing at this, she gritted her teeth. "I'm glad."
"Now," he told her, standing, "I know it sounds odd, but even blackened apple
pie can get too cold. Would you like to go inside?"
Laughing, she smiled and took his hand. "Of course."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Reeny was sitting on the temple steps, reading a comic book, when a little
blonde girl came running up, panting.
"Princess Reeny!" the girl called, green eyes smiling. "Princess!"
The pink-haired girl glanced up and was about to start a lecture on her name
being Reeny when she looked at the child. Those eyes... that purple bow... Why was
she so familiar?
"Can I help you, little one?" she asked, closing the comic. "Do you need a
good luck charm."
She shook her head. "I'm Lyra's sister Celeste, and I need your help!"
This caught Reeny's attention. "Is she in danger?" inquired the Princess,
leaping up. "Does she have an important message for me?"
Celeste blushed deeply. "Uh... no," she admitted. "Lyra's on a date."
"A date?" Reeny giggled. "A DATE? With who?"
"His name is Richard," the girl told her. "And he's really not her type."
This made the teen freeze. "Richard? Oh, man... I would LOVE to witness that!"
She laughed again. "Really, now, Celeste, what do you need?"
"I need you, Princess," she informed Reeny. "You have to come with me while I
spy on them."
Red eyes went wide. "Spy? Do you know what Lyra will do to you?"
Celeste smirked. "She'll only hurt us if we get caught." She shrugged.
"But... if you're not up to it..."
The Princess ruffled Celeste's hair. "You're a lot like I was at six, you know
that?" Smiling, Reeny groped in her robes for the car keys. "You're lucky that I
have my uncle's car for the week. Otherwise, you'd be S.O.L."
"What's that mean?" Celeste inquired innocently.
Reeny went pale. "Never mind. Give me five minutes to change, and we're out of
here. Okay?"
"Okay!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Phoebe looked at her mother. She had never seen Amy so pale and sick-looking.
It was a scary thing for the teen.
"We've decided, Phoebe," Greg solemnly said, folding his hands. "After tossing
around several ideas on my job, we've found the solution."
Amy nodded as her husband spoke. "There are certain aspects to your life that
prevents us from moving, such as the Sailor Scouts and your schooling."
"We want you to benefit from everything that we decide on." Greg played with
his wedding ring. "That's what makes this so difficult."
The teen sighed. "I understand, you guys. But it's not fair to take you from y
our job, Dad..." Tears welled in her ice blue eyes.
"You won't be." The doctor's tone was icy. "We found one solution-one outcome-
that gives both your father, me, and you a good chance at happiness."
He smiled, dark eyes sad. "Your mother's position was about to be taken over,
and she was going to be transferred to another hospital..."
"In Boston, which is right where your dad's new job would be," Amy clarified,
slowing swallowing. "So, that was two down."
"One to go," Phoebe sighed. "So, I guess we're moving..."
"WE are, Phoebe," Amy told the girl after a long pause. "But YOU... you're
not."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"You must be Brian!" smiled Michelle as Hannah and her boyfriend walked in the
front door. "I'm so glad to meet you!" she exclaimed, hugging him. "You're really a
hot topic in this house, young man."
From her seat on the couch, Haley snorted. "No he's not, Mom. We talk more
about racecars than..."
Alexandra kicked her daughter in the shins, still trying to insert her
earrings. "Ignore her. She's a drug addict."
"Alex!" scolded Michelle, taking the pie from Brian. "What a thing to say!
Come to the kitchen right now!"
The blonde held out a hand to the young man. "I'm Alexandra, Hannah's other
mom." She smiled. "I was planning on wearing a suit, but a certain aqua-haired
musician took it to the dry cleaner."
Brian shook Alex's hand warmly and examined her clothing. The gold dress, as
Michelle had promised, looked great.
"I think you're lovely," he smiled.
Alexandra smirked and started off after Michelle. "Ha, Michi, did you hear
that? LOVELY! You've got a run for your money, babe..."
Hannah rolled her purple eyes and smiled a wary smile at the girl on the
couch. "This is Haley, my sister. She's sixteen."
"Hi!" the girl chirped pleasantly with a sly grin. "It's nice to finally meet
the man who keeps my sister from becoming another Susan."
Though slightly confused, Brian smiled back at her. "For what it's worth, you
don't seem as awful as Hannah makes you sound."
"Nah, I am," Haley retorted. "She's just not brave enough to get dirty with
her Glaive... YET..."
"Haley," growled Hannah under her breath.
Brian looked doubtfully at her and raised an eyebrow. "Glaive?"
Walking in with a tray of cookies, the Guardian of Time provided a
distraction. "Why, hello Brian!" Susan smiled, managing to discreetly beam her
younger niece over the head. "I'm Susan, Hannah's aunt."
He smiled warmly. "You're the one with the boyfriend, right?"
Looking at the ground, Hannah managed to keep herself from blushing.
"Why, yes," the woman responded with a smile. "And, from the sound of you,
you'll get along really well with Terry."
"Oooh, he's TERRY now!" Haley smirked, standing slowly.
She lowered her garnet eyes. "I think that Michelle is calling you, dear."
"Nope!" Haley smiled. "Not at all."
Grabbing the teen's arm, Susan dragged her niece into the kitchen.
"I'm sorry, Brian," Hannah blushed, throwing herself onto the couch. "This is
turning into the dinner from Hell."
He smirked. "And we have yet to eat," he responded.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"There they are!" hissed Reeny with a grin. "How lucky are we? Two rows behind
them!"
Celeste resisted the urge to giggle and stared at her sister and Richard, both
intently watching the previews. "Now, the fun begins."
"What's the plan, Agent Purple?" asked the Princess with a wicked grin.
Celeste, or "Agent Purple", smiled up at her newfound friend. "The goal, Agent
Hot Pink, is to retain Richard from making a move on my sister."
"Really?" Reeny asked in a small state of shock. "Isn't that a
bit...underhanded, Purple?" she inquired. "I mean, it's Lyra's date and she should
reap the benefits..."
"Those are NOT benefits!" the child snapped. "I've heard my mother talk about
upperclassmen dating younger girls before, and it's bad... It's... WRONG!" she
exclaimed.
Nearby moviegoers glared at the two girls with disdain as Celeste yelped
aloud.
Reeny blushed. "Let's just watch the movie and see what happens, okay?"
Through silent tears, the blonde girl nodded.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"A movie theater? Since when does world conquest revolve around movies?" asked
Greed, whining. "I don't get it..."
Death rolled his eyes. "I'm taking my orders from the King himself, dear. I
don't understand either, but at least I'm not whining about it."
She stuck out her tongue and wandered aimlessly about the projection booth.
"This room's so... little," she commented, leaning against the wall. "And the
theater itself is so big!"
He smiled at her innocence. "You may be the Raider of Greed," he told her,
"but you're not all that worldly."
"I know." She looked at him with love in her green eyes. "I'm still sort of
ditzy, aren't I?" she shrugged. "Oh well... it's not like I'll die tomorrow! I've
got my whole life to live!"
Death stopped what he was doing to take in a short, ragged breath. He was
shaking. Positively shaking. And he knew what that meant.
"Not today," he whispered to himself, still staring at Greed with unseeing
eyes. "Please...not today."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The doorbell rang.
Michelle, who was busy stirring the rice, looked to Alex for support. "Could
you get the door?"
The blonde sighed. "But this is a really good race!" she protested, staring at
the television screen with intent eyes.
"Alex..." warned the musician, lowering her eyes.
"Fine." High-heels clicking on the tile, Alexandra walked into the hall and
threw open the front door. "What?" she curtly asked the young man in front of her.
Repositioning the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, the man blushed deeply.
"I'm sorry, Miss," he told her apologetically. "I think I have the wrong house."
Alex shivered as she felt his green eyes dart from her face to her torso,
hips, legs, and finally to her feet.
"Yep, wrong house," he informed her after the evaluation. "Unless, of course, you're
Alex Ten'ou."
She was taken aback. "Alright, bub," she said in a low tone, cracking her
knuckles. "You better have one good explanation for how you knew my name, or..."
"Whoa!" Jumping back, he covered his face with the bottle of wine he held.
"Don't hurt me! My name is Terrence; I'm here for dinner." He peeked out from behind
the container. "I come bearing alcohol, if it helps."
The woman blushed and held the door open. "I won't hurt you as long as you
don't rat me out to Susan."
"Sets?" he inquired with a shrug. "Nah, Al... This can be our little
secret..." Looking at her once more, he winked. "You are hot, though."
"I'm gay, Terrence, if it's any help," she replied causally. "And, beyond
that, you're dating one of my best friends."
Walking out of the kitchen, Susan smiled widely. "Terry, you're just in time!
Dinner will be ready in about five minutes."
He grinned and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey, Al, you know what I just said?"
he asked, winking again at the blonde.
Alexandra groaned inwardly. "Yeah?"
"Triple it and maybe...MAYBE...it'll fit Sets here," he mused, his smile
growing.
The tall blonde rolled her eyes and took the wine into the kitchen.
Susan, meanwhile, was pointing out each family member to him. "The girl
setting the table is Haley, the woman in the black skirt is Hannah..."
"Saturn, right?" inquired Terrence in a low tone.
She nodded, but didn't say anything. "The blonde man is Brian-Hannah's
boyfriend... And you met Alex, I assume."
Michelle walked into the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. "Hello
Terrence! I'm so happy to meet you!" Hugging him, she lowered her voice. "You leave
Alexandra alone," she joked with a sly grin. "Her temper is worse than Susan's..."
"I will," he promised, glancing around the room. "Now, I don't want to seem
too forward, but who's that guy in the family portrait?" he asked, looking at a wall
hanging of the two girls, Michelle, Alex, and Susan.
Michelle and Susan both laughed. "That's Alex," Michelle responded through
giggles.
He paled, embarrassed. "She sure looks...different..." was his response. The
women just kept laughing.
"Oh, Terry," smiled Susan warmly. "We're laughing with you, dear. EVERYONE
says things like that..."
"When your sister-in-law, Serenity, first met Alex," Michelle volunteered,
"she spent an entire day trying to figure out if Alex had a girlfriend..."
Terrence choked back laughter. "You're kidding!" he exclaimed.
The aquamarine haired woman shook her head slowly. "Not in the least,
Terrence..."
Alexandra walked out of the kitchen, then, carrying a slotted spoon. "Okay,
that's enough of the 'Alexandra Ten'ou Cross-dressing Files'," she decided, waving
the spoon at both Planet Mistresses. "Besides, dinner's ready."
Susan smiled. "Good. I'm starved. Are we having pickled beats?"
Running a hand through his hair, Terrence raised an eyebrow. "You hate beats,
dear one..."
"I'm in such a mood for beats, though," she observed. "I wonder why..."
Alexandra and Michelle looked at one another nervously.
"Let's eat," the Mistress of Neptune finally said, twisting the towel in her
hands.
Her blonde counterpart nodded and started off to the dining room.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Richard stared at Lyra. She was so cute, sitting there and stuffing her face
with popcorn. He smiled, but something inside was bothering him...
He felt so drawn, both consciously and otherwise to the girl. And he couldn't
figure it out for the likes of him. She made his palms sweaty, his heart race, and
his head spin.
It couldn't be love... could it?
He shrugged and decided to be daring. He knew that Lyra liked him... Why not
try something to test that?
Slowly, deliberately, he raised the arm next to her and prepared himself to
put it around her shoulders.
"OOOOOH!" someone behind them yelled.
Jumping nearly a mile into the air, Richard withdrew his arm and looked
guiltily at his feet.
"Are you okay?" his date asked, glancing at him with her light brown eyes.
He tried to be cool. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Richard, you just jumped out of your seat." Lyra raised an eyebrow.
He blushed. "It's an intense movie, Lyra," he attempted, with a smile.
She giggled. "You're cute when you try to act all cool, you know that?"
He tried to take her hand.
"OOOOOH!" came the voice again.
He mimicked picking lint off her shirtsleeve. "You really should use Downy.
Cuts down on fuzzy things like that," Richard said calmly.
Looking doubtfully at him, Lyra shook her head. "You'll have to tell my mom
then, I suppose," she sighed, picking at her fingernails.
He cracked his knuckles, thinking about pulling the arm-over-shoulder move
again.
As he tried, the voice came back.
"OOOOOH!"
Groaning, he tapped her on the shoulder. "Do you hear that?"
Her eyes grew wide. "Hear what?" she asked, confused.
"Someone keeps yelling 'oooooh'..." He blushed, realizing how stupid he
probably sounded.
Grinning mischievously, Lyra lowered her voice. "Why would someone be doing
that?" she inquired with mock innocence in her voice.
He stared at the ground.
"Richard Umino!" she playfully scolded. "Are you trying to take advantage of
me?"
He didn't say anything, but the blush on his face was unmistakable.
She smiled and leaned against him. "That's so..."
"OOOOH!" The voice cut her off.
"I heard it this time," she told him, anger in her voice. Turning around, she
continued, "And I know the voice, too."
"Shit! Run, Purple, run!" the voice said.
Lyra groaned as she saw someone with meatball-style hair stand try to run from
the theater, dragging a little girl...a girl with a bow...with her.
And that was when the movie shut off.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"That was great food, Michelle," Terrence said warmly, wiping a bit of wine
off his goatee.
She smiled. "What year was that wine, though? It has to be the best I've
tasted in my life!"
Alexandra nodded in agreement. "It was good."
Sipping deliberately at her water, Susan sighed and changed the subject. "How
about some of Brian's great-looking pie?" she asked.
He groaned. "No... Not that!"
Hannah laughed. "Yes, THAT. I'll serve it." She stood and placed her napkin on
the table. "Who wants it with ice cream?" she inquired of the group.
"I will," Haley smiled from her spot next to Alex. "LOTS of ice cream."
The Guardian of Time considered this. "How about sauerkraut?" she requested.
Everyone stared at her. "Sauerkraut?" repeated Terrence.
"As in the nasty German stuff?" Alexandra questioned her.
Susan nodded. "Yeah."
Brian raised an eyebrow. "On apple pie?"
"Yeah," she smiled. "It sounds really good!"
Terrence stood up. "Sets, can I please talk to you outside?" he asked, looking
down at her with concerned green eyes.
Her smile quickly turned into a frown as soon as her words hit her. He still
didn't know... At all...
"Yeah..." She walked to the back door, Terrence following.
Alexandra and Michelle glanced at one another nervously, and Hannah went off
to get the pie in silence.
Suddenly, Haley jumped a mile into the air and stuck a hand into her pocket.
"Shit! Locket alert!"
Brian raised an eyebrow as the brown-haired girl ran out of the dining room.
"Locket alert?" he asked the couple.
Michelle played with her napkin, and Alexandra furrowed her brow in silence.
"Okay, guys, I know I'm not a part of this family, and that's perfectly fine
with me," he told them. "But every time the Sailor Scouts come up in this house,
everybody gets real jumpy and changes the subject on me." He looked at Alexandra.
"Alex, you usually are the first to respond to it. Three times at dinner..." He
sighed. "And you all wear these weird beads..."
Michelle sighed. "We're Planet Mistresses, Brian," she softly said, playing
with her bracelet. "Hannah, Susan, Alexandra and me..."
"Saturn, Pluto, Uranus, Neptune," sighed Alex. "And Haley's a Sailor Scout."
Brian gulped. "So it is true. They really are just normal people, like
everyone says..."
Hannah came up behind him and put her arms around his neck. "And you're dating
one," she smiled.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Come out, Sailor Saps!" called Greed from her place at the front of the
theater. "I'm got an enormous urge to beat you to death and dispose of your
bodies..."
Suddenly, a Sailor Scout appeared in front of her, basking in a golden glow.
"I am Sailor Polaris, shielded by the light of the North Star." Crossing her arms,
she smiled. "And you're star dust."
Death, who was still trembling inwardly, lowered his eyes. "Wind."
A tornado began spinning in front of the Scout. She jumped out of the way, but
she still couldn't completely avoid it...
Until a purple rose flew and hit Death in the arm.
"Out in the galaxy, there are stars," came a male voice.
"And nebulae!" came a young girl's voice.
"We protect those galactic powers!" the man called as a light erupted from the
ceiling, illuminating the room.
The man was wearing his tuxedo and ballroom mask. "I am the Starlit Prince!"
And clinging to his legs was a little blonde girl with a yellow and purple
Sailor fuku. "And I'm Sailor Chibi-Star!" she announced, grimacing at the female
Raider. "We don't like you, but we'll fight you!"
"Well put," Greed told the girl. "But are you prepared for those to be the
last words you ever say?"
"Greed..." Death warned, putting pressure on the puncture wound he had gained.
"Don't fight today..."
She made a face at him. "You glory hog!" she yelled, brandishing her sword.
"I'm going to beat the Scouts, once and for all!"
He glared at her. "Greed..."
Sailor Polaris and the Starlit Prince looked at one another. "What do we do?"
asked the older Scout, raising her eyebrows high.
"Chibi-Star?" he asked the trembling little girl.
She shook her blonde pigtails. "Not Greed..." she whispered.
A voice from the back of the room chimed in. "You can do it, Sailors! I'm
here!"
Polaris grinned upon recognizing Sailor Moon's voice. "Come on, Sailor
Chibi-Star! Help me out!"
The little one nodded and stepped out from behind the Prince's cape. "Small
Star..." she voiced, staring straight at Greed with a vengeful glare.
Death's black eyes flashed in fear as the child set up her attack. With the
wound...with the pain he was feeling, an infinite number of counter-spells would not
successfully block the attack, let alone the one he could possibly manage. And he
was a sorcerer... she was not.
Closing her eyes, Sailor Polaris focused all her energy on the Raider.
"Starry Sky..."
The dark-haired woman gulped and looked at the Starlit Prince. "Die!" she
called, stabbing at him with the sword.
He tried to dodge it, but didn't make it fast enough and got hit in the arm
with the sword.
Something inside of Chibi-Star snapped in seeing him get hurt. "SHATTER!" she
yelled, tears running down her cheeks as she saw her friend get hurt.
"SMASH!" called Polaris, still concentrating on the young Raider.
Razor sharp, golden glass rained down.
And giant ball of stardust collected on the ceiling, readying itself to fall.
Greed looked up and saw what was coming. A tear ran down her face. "I love
you, Death!" she screamed as the ball hit her.
He resisted the urge to call out to her and faded away in a flash of black.
Sailor Moon emerged from her spot at the back of the theater with a slight
smile. "Good job, you three," she proudly said to them. "I'm impressed."
The Starlit Prince staggered to his feet and looked at the rapidly
disintegrating body of the Raider. "You did very well. And, you saved my life."
"Two for two," beamed Moon, smoothing her blue skirt. "Good."
"I must go now," the Prince said, pulling a rose out and handing it to Sailor
Chibi-Star. "This cut's pretty bad." He walked out the exit, clutching his arm all
the while.
"Poor guy," observed Polaris with a sigh. She then turned to Sailor Moon.
"Now, would you like to explain what you were doing here?"
Moon blushed and fingered a pink pigtail. "Well, I meant it innocently
enough..." she sighed nervously.
Placing her purple rose behind her ear, Sailor Chibi-Star left the Scouts to
argue.
"Maybe," she said to herself, "it's better like this."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Susan looked at the moon sparkling over Crystal Tokyo. Though the Palace was
halfway across the city, it sparkled with a powerful magnificence that made tears
come to her eyes.
"Sets," Terrence softly said, "for the past month, you've been getting sick,
eating minimally, abstaining from all alcohol-including vintage red wine, which you
adore-and craving things you hate..."
"Like sauerkraut, eggplant, and pickled beats," she sighed, completely sober.
He nodded. "And, not to be rude, but you've gained weight."
Idly stroking her stomach, the Guardian of Time took off her glasses. "What
I'm about to say is going to change a lot of things, Terry. I know that, and that's
why I've been avoiding it..." she trailed off and wiped a tear from her cheek. "But
this won't be easy."
He smiled sadly and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Whatever you have to
tell me, please do..." He looked at her with concern and love in his green eyes.
"Oh, Sets, you mean the world to me, dear one. I don't say it, but I do love you..."
"Terrence," she attempted, swallowing, "don't make this harder for me than it
already is."
He sighed and kissed the top of her head. "No matter what, Susan, I'll still
be by your side."
She looked to the sky last time. "Terrence, I... no, WE'RE... pregnant."
Taking a deep breath, he nervously ran a hand through his brown hair. "Is that
all?" he sarcastically asked. "And I thought that it was a big deal."
"Oh, please don't kid, Terry... this is serious!" she told him, knotting her
brow. "I'm scared!" Another tear ran down her face. "I don't know how to become a
parent!"
He nodded. "And neither do I. But, no matter what, dear one, I'm here for
you."
Susan sighed. "I could not ask for more."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"You leave and I stay?" Phoebe asked, staring at her parents in shock. "So
that's how it's going to work? You're going to abandon me?"
Amy sighed deeply. "It's not like that," she told the girl. "We'll use
teleportation to visit regularly, and with Orb here, I'm sure you'll be fine."
"I need you!" she protested. "I want to go with you! I'm a Scout now, but I
don't know how to be a Scout! You've got to be here for me!" Tears ran down her
cheeks. "Don't leave!"
"My whole life, I lived in the shadows of people who were better than I.
Instead of living to be me, I swam for everyone else." She looked into the ice blue
eyes of one girl. One child. One daughter who would always wonder if her mother did
the right thing. "Phoebe," she choked, "swim for yourself this time. Do this on your
own, and all the world will follow."
Greg nodded, standing slowly. "And, someday in the future, people will
remember Phoebe Solaria Urawa... Not for being a follower, but swimming in her own
sea."
She wiped away tears. "But... Mom, Dad..."
The doctor smiled. "Hey, Orb," she called to the orange cat who was sitting on
the kitchen counter. "Take good care of her for us."
The cat nodded.
"We'll visit next week, dear... Promise..." were the last words Amy said
before she and Greg disappeared in a flash of sparkling blue light.
It was upon those words that Phoebe crumpled to the floor, sobbing.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Bye, Brian!" called Hannah, waving. "See you tomorrow!"
Driving away, the young man blew her a kiss.
Hannah walked inside and looked at her mothers with a grin.
"That went well," observed Alexandra, clad in sweatpants and a T-shirt.
"Except for that entire thing about mistaking me for a male."
Laughing, Michelle put away her violin. "I think we should do this more
often." She smiled. "I like that Brian boy, Hannah."
The young woman flushed. "Don't give me the 'time to settle down' speech,
Mom," she protested. "I really am not ready for it."
"I wasn't going to," Michelle calmly told her daughter. "I was just going to
say I like him."
The blonde woman nodded. "And apple pie flambé isn't too bad, you know," she
laughed.
Slowly, softly, Susan walked into the living room and rested a hand on her
stomach. "He still cares about me," she told them with a sigh.
"What?" asked Michelle, raising an eyebrow.
"We've decided to hold off on all actions beyond telling Serenity and
Endymion, but we're still going to date," she stated quietly, laying on the couch.
"And I finally was able to smile about the baby..."
The aquamarine haired woman grinned wistfully at Alex. "A baby..." she cooed.
"Do you want a baby or what?" Alex snapped, confusion covering her face.
"Pick an opinion and stick with it!"
Just then, there was an orange and silver flash of light and Sailor Comet
appeared in the Ten'ou household's living room. "Damn, I hate it when stuff like
this happens!" she muttered, pulling her locket away from the orange bow and
untransforming.
"What's wrong?" Michelle's green eyes were dark with worry.
Haley shook her head. "The theater was empty except for a rather nasty pile of
moon dust," she grumbled, throwing herself onto a chair. "Never again do I ditch a
family dinner in order to answer a locket alert." She sighed deeply and rubbed her
temples. "So, what'd I miss?"
"Brian knows about us," Alexandra responded. "He's one quick kid."
"And Terrence knows about the baby, but still wants to date me," Susan said to
her niece.
Haley smiled. "Well, that's good, I guess."
"Guess?" repeated Hannah.
"Well, I would have LOVED to see Terrence's face," she grinned.
And she was promptly beamed by a sofa pillow.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The moon shone down on the indoor pool as Phoebe finished her fourth lap in
the cool, clear water. Sighing deeply, she dove deep under the water one last time,
letting it wash over her hair and face like a warm spring breeze.
Coming slowly to the surface, she looked through the skylight and at the
twinkling stars that shone down on her. It really was a wonderful world to live in.
"Miss," a voice came from the doorway. "Miss, the pool's closing in five
minutes."
She smiled and looked at the janitor. He was a gray-haired, elderly man with
sparkling brown eyes. "Thanks," she called to him, climbing out of the pool.
He smiled back at her. "Rumor has it that the Mistress of Mercury used to swim
at this very pool," he volunteered. "And, if I didn't know better, I'd say you could
pass as her."
She blushed a bit. "Thank you. That's a very kind thing to say." Grabbing her
red towel, she cocked her head at the man. "Do you happen to know why the Mistress
used to swim here?"
He shrugged thoughtfully. "Some people say that she and the Mistress Neptune
had an on-going race. But, some people-me included, tell it different." He leaned
against his broom. "She wanted to be something beyond expectations, and maybe-just
maybe-swimming was her escape." Turning, he started walking away.
Phoebe stopped him. "Sir!" she called. "Sir, I don't know who you are, but
thank you."
Turning around, he cocked his head at her. "Now, why do you say that?"
"My parents just moved away, and so now I'm living alone," she explained, her
grin turning a bit sad. "And you just... Well, whatever you said just felt extremely
right, sir." Phoebe grabbed her bag. "Mistress Mercury once said that she 'swam for
everyone else'..." The teen wrung some water out of her hair. "I just realized that,
for the first time, I swam for me."
"Good for you," the janitor smiled, nodding in approval. He walked Phoebe to
the door in silence, with nothing more than a unique smile on his wrinkled face.
As Phoebe left, he looked at her, more thoughtfully this time. "Hey, kid," he
called after her.
She looked at him, ice blue eyes sparkling.
"I knew from the moment I saw you that you were Amy's girl," he told her.
"Don't ever lose hope. It's out there."
Phoebe smiled knowingly at him, and then started home.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Galactic Sailors... NO! PHOEBE... Says
Phoebe: Today, I went through my fair share of troubles. But I learned a whole lot
about myself. Things that, for some reason, no one else understood.
Haley: (entering) That's great, but can we PLEASE mention the fact that I had a very
amusing dinner party at my house?
Phoebe: (whining) But TODAY'S episode was supposed to focus on me and my personal
problems! Did we all forget that?
Haley: (stick out her tongue) Well, how many people are going remember your swimming
obsession instead of remembering my funny words to our close friend Brian?
Tara: (entering) What about my desperate lack of screen time? Come on, people! Even
Serenity got more fame!
Reeny: (entering and nodding emphatically) Yeah! And there was some major-and
patented, may I add-Butler Plot Underdevelopment in that whole me and Tara thing.
Phoebe: (rolls eyes) Whatever.
Ken: (entering) Come on, people. Richard's mother, who was minor character
throughout the original run of Sailor Moon, got more lines in one scene than I did
in my whole appearance...
Orb: (entering) Which included one scene. Thank you.
Artemis: (entering) Yeah? Well this is my first line in this story. Period.
(All others groan in defeat)
Melvin: (entering) Roll credits.
-I Know-
Look around...
(Tara, sitting next to Queen Serenity, stares up at the night sky)
So many things aren't clear...
(Phoebe looks blankly at a math book)
Don't worry, though...
(Lyra smiles while picking up her tuba)
You know that I'll be there...
(Sailor Pluto and Haley smile knowingly at each other)
A lot of things are so uncertain...
(Alice looks sadly at a clock while the sun sets over Crystal Tokyo)
The future's on its way...
(Reeny holds the Locket of the Moon, smiling)
Look at my crying eyes...
(Luna and Artemis console an upset Diana)
Don't take your love away!
(Hannah sighs, looking at a sleeping Haley)
Sometimes, the road looks long...
(Mina looks at her children with Andrew behind her)
And sometimes, the world seems wrong...
(Alex and Michelle smile at one another and then blush deeply)
But I know, I know, all you need is love.
(The six girls, untransformed, hold their lockets high)
Sometimes, you feel weak...
(Lita smoothes the hair of a crying Alice)
And sometimes, the future looks bleak...
(Raye and Chad stand behind Tara, who is staring at her locket)
But I know, I know, all you need is love.
(The six Galactic Sailors stand in a half circle)
Times will change...
(Amy looks out of a window and at Crystal Palace)
People will change, too...
(Endymion looks at Serenity, who is pouring over a book)
But deep inside...
(Lyra hugs Celeste)
I always will love you...
(Diana falls asleep on Reeny's lap)
I suppose there are questions now...
(Alice and Phoebe stare blankly at one another)
The answers are so far...
(Michelle stands in front of the orchestra, talking)
But look at me and smile now...
(Tara lovingly hugs her father)
I am your guiding star!
(Haley smiles at a studying Hannah)
Sometimes, the road looks long...
(Mina looks at her children with Andrew behind her)
And sometimes, the world seems wrong...
(Alex and Michelle smile at one another and then blush deeply)
But I know, I know, all you need is love.
(The six girls, untransformed, hold their lockets high)
Sometimes, you feel weak...
(Lita smoothes the hair of a crying Alice)
And sometimes, the future looks bleak...
(Raye and Chad stand behind Tara, who is staring at her locket)
But I know, I know, all you need is love.
(The six Galactic Sailors stand in a half circle)
I know...
(The Planet Mistresses stand in a circle)
I know...
(The Galactic Sailors stand in a circle)
All you need is love...
(The Mistresses and Sailors all stand together, holding hands, with their eyes
closed)
All you need...is...love...
(A single purple rose sits in a vase)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
We would like to thank Thanksgiving, for allowing us enough time off of school to
sit around, finish this, and draw up numerous plots-both for this and next (that's
right...NEXT) season. We hope you have enjoyed this wonderful walk through the world
of the Galactic Sailors.
Your over-active, homework-hating divas,
-Kate and Christina
"Heroes get remembered, but legends never die." -The Sandlot
Author's Ramblings: (in stereo, no less) We're here! Again! Number five! A story
to be loved and appreciated from this very moment on. Yippee for us! Yippee for
SM! Yippee in general!
DISCLAIMER OF THE DAY: It's like this: Sailor Moon ain't ours. Sailor Moon belongs
to a whole lot of people. Them people ain't us.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
THE STORY SO FAR:
Lita's 'old friend' Ken showed up and was revealed as Alice's father. Reeny
met Terrence for the first time. Andrew quit his job. Greed and Death's plan
didn't work. Haley and Hannah survived a week together.
And that, my friends, is where the story begins...
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Susan gulped and felt herself sway backwards a bit. Bound and determined not
to faint, she opened a single ruby eye and looked at the Mistress of Mercury.
Through blue-rimmed glasses, two navy eyes stared in concern at the Guardian
of Time. "Susan?"
"Did you say what... what I think you said?" asked the woman, already
knowing the answer.
Amy nodded in affirmation. "You're pregnant, Susan."
Clenching her smooth hands to fists, Susan Meiou looked to her friend and
fellow Planet Mistress. "Are you completely SURE?"
"Yes. This test was perfected years ago..." Trailing off, she began
scrawling information down onto a blank chart.
Biting a scarlet lip, Susan lapsed off into a sort of dream world. What
would Terrence think? And Alexandra and Michelle... how would they react? Hannah,
Haley, Neo-Queen Serenity, King Endymion, and all the other Mistresses... What
would this new information do to them? Would they be shocked, pleased, confused...
what?
"Amy, can I ask you something?" she meekly asked.
"Anything, Susan," the doctor responded. "You know that I'll be there for
you."
Susan nodded in agreement and gulped. "Could you be my doctor?"
Beaming at this, Amy took one of Susan's hands and squeezed it. "I've done
the same for every other Mistress... and I was just waiting for the day when it
would be my turn to help you..." Looking at the wall clock, she let the hand go
and turned back to the charts. "It's getting late. Why don't you go on home? I'll
arrange some sort of appointment for you."
Susan nodded and started towards the door. Just as her hand was about to
touch the doorknob, she turned back to look at Amy, pouring over charts and
writing recommendations and the whatnot.
"Amy?"
The doctor raised her head of blue hair, and her eyes fell on Susan's face.
"Thank you, Ames."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana walked slowly down the halls of Crystal Palace, sad.
Her father had actually left.
No one knew where he was, though Serenity suspected him to be at one of the
Mistress' homes.
That was no comfort to the young guardian cat.
"How am I supposed to function without my parents?" she asked herself, near
tears. "Me and Orb are not ready! And we'll never be!"
"Maybe we will..." Smiling, Orb jumped off a windowsill and joined his
sister in her walk. "Why are you so worried?"
Diana sighed. "I'm afraid... I don't want the Scouts to get hurt..."
"They won't," Orb reassured her, smiling sadly. "We'll figure it out, just
like Mom and Dad did... And, besides, we've still got Mom." He winked, like
Artemis had a habit of doing. "And she was the better of the guardians."
For the first time in what seemed to be days, Diana laughed.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Dancing in the cool, crisp fall breeze, a few leaves flew into Tara's raven
hair. Leaning up against a tree, the thirteen-year-old took a short break from
raking up leaves to reflect on the past weeks.
It had been almost two months since she had been handed the green and tan
Locket of Earth.
And it had been a good month since Illness had died at the hands of all six
Sailor Scouts.
And exactly one week had passed since the defeat of a black shadow monster
at the Best Buy.
"What next?" asked the girl softly, breathing in the rich scent of October.
"I've fought evil several times, and though it's quite an accomplishment... I feel
that it is more of a study in destiny..."
One stray rose petal from somewhere unseen floated into the courtyard and
landed at Tara's feet. Blood red and seemingly made of molten silk, it sat before
her.
She picked it up, smoothing the petal between her fingertips.
"Something is going to happen," she commented, throwing the partial bloom
back into the sky. "I know it is." As the petal flew out of view she smiled.
"And it's going to be good."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"We don't have that kind of money laying around, Alexandra!"
"That's what you say, but what about all the prize money I won last year?"
"Whose bright idea was it to put the winnings into stocks and bonds?"
"Michelle, you're not even listening!"
Gritting her teeth, Susan reached for the doorknob of Michelle's home
office. It was obviously a bad time, but what time would be better? After all,
she had been sick with guilt for days about the pregnancy.
The baby... Susan idly touched her stomach. What would they say? And
Terrence...
It was definitely a good time.
"Alex? Michelle?" she called, rapping lightly on the door. "Can I talk to
you guys?"
She heard rustling. "Come on in, Susan."
Susan gulped and pushed open the door, revealing the organized office.
Everything was bright and airy, and a large fish tank sat in one corner, creating
a pleasant gurgling sound. Smiling despite herself, she swept her hair to the side
and sat in a chair.
"You were arguing again."
Michelle blushed scarlet and continued sorting through papers while
Alexandra ran a hand through her hair, a look of guilt on her face.
The Guardian of Time shrugged. "It's nothing to me. But why do you guys
fight?"
"Because we're an old couple," Alex attempted, a rather fake smile crossing
her face. "That's what we're supposed to do. After all, two millennia of..."
"When people love each other, sometimes, they just do." Michelle interrupted
and looked at her friend with a thoughtful gleam in her green eyes. "Love is a
funny thing, Suse."
"Don't I know it?" Susan agreed, chewing thoughtfully on her lower lip.
Alexandra glanced at the green-haired woman and furrowed her brow. "What in
Heaven's name are you talking about, Susan?"
Sighing, Susan took a deep breath. "I have quite a story to tell you two."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Somewhere in the Galaxy, there was a great black ship. And in the ship were
four warriors and their king, each more deadly and terrifying than the last.
"Your Majesty," said a man in black, bowing deeply. "How may we serve you?"
The king, a solemn and bitter looking ruler, glared at the young man.
"Death, silence. The Spirit of Silver speaks."
From the black marble rose a silver shadow. Depending on the angle, it could
look like man, beast, spirit, or just a figment of the imagination.
"Illness was died, and no one has attempted to defeat the Sailor Scouts,"
spoke the spirit in a deep, gruff tone. "Would any of you like to explain this to
me?"
Greed, a shapely woman clad in tight green leather, curtseyed. "That is our
goal, Your... Spiritness," she stammered a bit, glancing to Death for support.
"But those Sailor Girls are far more powerful than we..."
"Don't disappoint me!" the Spirit snapped, cutting her off. "I've had enough
of you..." Unseen eyes glanced from one body to another. "All of you Raiders. You
all sit and bicker, being little more than pests to one another and to me."
The other woman, dressed in a gray dress that hung to her ankles, stepped
forward. "But..."
"Doubt, do not question me!" The Spirit began to fade out of sight. "You
must defeat the Scouts. If not, you feel my wrath!"
Covering her mouth, Greed gulped as the Spirit of Silver disappeared. "Oh
my."
"Oh my is right!" Doubt snapped, nervously playing with a strand of white
hair. "Silver's mad."
A man in red armor made a grievous face. "You are not to call the Spirit of
Silver 'Silver', Doubt!" he scolded. "The Spirit is our..."
"SHUT UP!" The King's voice echoed through the black chamber. "You are all
idiots, you know that? Imbeciles!"
Death swallowed and grabbed Greed's arm, pulling her away from the King.
"Do you realize how close we were to defeat with that Shadow Monster?" His
silver eyes flared in hatred. "Do you realize how close you came to dying at
Cherry Hill Temple?"
"We did not!" Greed protested, wrenching her arm free and walking up to the
Raider King. Her green eyes were filled with anger. "How dare you say something
like that? We scared the holy Andromeda out of those brats! And we could do it
again!"
Death grimaced, closing his eyes in dread. The King would surely kill her,
leaving but ashes for the rest of the Raiders to clean up.
Instead, the King chuckled. "Very well put, Greed," he said considerately,
smoothing her hair. "That, Raiders, is what you need to win."
There was a flash of light, and he was gone.
"Whew!" Greed let out a deep breath. "I thought I was Raider toast!"
Doubt sneered at her. "You got lucky, kid," she spat, lowering her eyes.
"That's all. Understand? All you had was luck." She faded out of existence.
"I must agree with Doubt, as much as it grieves me to do so," spoke
Violence, his red eyes focusing on the youngest, dark haired Raider. "You risked
your life and lucked out. I wouldn't gamble like that again." He turned on his
heel and strode slowly out of the chamber.
She just sniffled and turned to Death. "And I suppose you're going to yell
at me and..."
"I think, Greed, that you did very well." He wrapped a protective arm around
her. "The others didn't expect that to happen and had to chide you for it."
"Really?" she gasped, looking up at him with love in her eyes. "You think
so?"
"Greed," he softly said, holding her close, "I could never had done that.
But you did."
"Right..."
"And I am proud of you for it. I love you."
She smiled and leaned against him. "I love you too, Deathie."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"So, that's my problem, Serenity," the dark haired Priestess admitted to her
childhood friend.
The Queen of the Earth sighed and chewed on her pen cap. "That's quite the
problem," she agreed thoughtfully. "Tara surely can not take care of the entire
temple alone..."
Raye sighed. "It's actually not her that I'm so fretful about," she replied.
"But after the attack on the girls last week, I'm extremely worried."
"And I don't blame you," the Queen decided. "I just don't know how to
help..."
A small pink cat jumped onto the desk. "I have an idea, Serenity," Diana
helpfully volunteered.
"Any little bit helps," the Mistress of Mars urged. "The conference starts
in two days, and we have to get there."
"Why not have Reeny stay with Tara for the duration of the conference?" the
cat suggested. "After all, Reeny is old enough to drive, and the temple would be
well protected with Sailor Moon around." She smiled. "And think of the quiet,
tranquil air the Palace would have..."
The golden-haired Queen closed her eyes, considering this. "Quiet..." she
mumbled, smiling widely. "A nice bubble bath without noise... Hmmm..."
"How could you think that?" Orb disagreed, jumping up next to his sister.
"The Princess lives here! You shouldn't toss her out!"
Diana stuck out her tongue. "But you DON'T live here, stupid," she retorted.
"And I could use the vacation from guardianship."
The gold-eyed cat glared at his older sister. "But the Scouts need their
guardians! And Reeny needs you more than all the others do!"
Serenity opened a single blue eye and glanced at both the cats. "Raye, dear,
I love Diana's idea..."
The pink cat, gloating, beamed at her brother.
"...But Orb is right. Reeny does need someone to supervise her."
The orange cat nodded happily Diana's haughty grin faded and became a sad
frown.
The Shinto rose. "I understand, Serenity. I'm sorry that I came..."
"Hey, now," cut in the Queen, holding out a hand. "I never said I wasn't
helping."
Raye's face turned bewildered. "Then, what are you going to do?" she asked,
a bit of annoyance in her voice.
Standing, Neo-Queen Serenity smoothed her silk gown. "Reeny, Princess of the
Earth, will stay with your daughter while you and Chad are gone."
The Mistress of Mars smiled warmly at her friend. "Thank you."
"And Diana, Guardian of the Princess, will remain with Reeny during her
stay," Serenity finished. "Now, let me walk you to the Palace Gates."
As the two women left, Diana groaned and glared at her younger brother.
"This is all your fault! You and your hair-brained ideas! Why, I have half a mind
to..."
"Oh, dear," Orb mockingly interrupted, glancing at the wall clock. "Look at
the time! I bet Phoebe is wondering where I am..." He grinned evilly and jumped
off the desk. "See you at Cherry Hill, sis."
"Why...you..." she threatened, lowering her magenta eyes further. "You just
wait, Orb! I'll get you yet..."
"I'm sure," he chirped, walking to the door. "Good luck."
Diana just shook her head as the door closed behind the orange cat. "I," she
resolved, "am going to kill that cat."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Michelle dropped her stack of papers. "You're pregnant?" she echoed, biting
her lip. "How did this happen?"
The blonde woman shook her head. "When two people really love each other..."
"This is serious!" Michelle smacked Alexandra upside the head. "Susan, why
didn't you tell us the instant that Amy told you?"
"I had never even mentioned Terrence, and I was..." Susan picked at a
crimson fingernail. "I don't know, you guys. I'm sorry."
Michelle smiled lovingly and played with an aqua hair. "It's been a long
time since there was a baby in the household, you know..."
"No!" Alex sternly retorted, seeing the stars in her lover's eyes. "No."
"I didn't mean that, Alex!" Michelle informed the blonde. "What I meant was
that Susan could stay here when she has the baby."
Susan considered this, then shrugged. "I have bigger problems on my hands
right now."
Staring at the garnet eyed woman, Alexandra's jaw went slack. "Oh... OH..."
she thought aloud. "Terrence has no clue in Hell that you're going to have his
kid, does he?"
"Alex!" Michelle scolded. "I'm sure that she has the common sense to..."
Seeing the wistful gleam in Susan's eyes, she stopped. "Oh dear."
"I don't know how I should tell him," she admitted, adjusting her glasses.
"It's not like I've been through this before."
"Neither have we," noted Alex. "We had to agree before adopting Haley, but
that's...different..." She trailed off and put an arm around Michelle, sighing.
Looking up at Alex, the musician nodded. "But, whatever you do, we're here
for you."
"Right." The blonde glanced at Susan. "After all, you were the one
who...sort of...gave us Hannah. We have to repay it somehow."
Susan stood slowly. "Thanks, guys... I'm really thankful I have you."
Michelle smiled lovingly. "And we're glad that we have you..."
"Speak for yourself," muttered Alex with a wicked grin.
"Most of us, anyway..." Michelle corrected herself while making a face.
Susan chuckled and walked out of the office with a tender smile.
Alex then shook her head. "This is awfully scary," she observed as the door
closed. "Susan as a parent. It's been a long time since the girls were little...
She has absolutely no practice or preparedness with children, and now she's going
to become a mother!"
"Alex," Michelle cooed softly, "how many babies had you held before Hannah
came into our lives? How many diapers had you changed?"
The blonde looked guiltily at the floor. "You're the mom... You do that
stuff..."
Michelle shook her head. "We're both moms, which makes this an
extremely...unique...family. But you managed, and I managed, and Susan will really
manage."
"Do you really want to have another baby?" inquired Alex nervously.
Michelle laughed, her elegant laughter washing all of Alexandra's suspicions
away. "We're far too happy..."
"And old," the tall woman chimed in. "After all, over a thousand years of
life is far to old to raise..."
"Alex," the Mistress of Neptune lovingly interrupted, "shut up."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Phoebe? Are you down here?"
From her spot on the dance floor, Phoebe rolled her ice blue eyes. The
basement in their house was set up as a dance studio, but she usually could not
have more than five minutes of practice before someone-mother, father, or
sarcastic cat-interrupted her.
"Yes, Daddy," she sighed, stretching a bit as she heard footfalls on the
steps. "I was trying to dance, though..."
"And I supposed you were crocheting down here," Greg chided himself, shaking
his head of dark hair. "But this is important, Pheebs."
Taking a swig of her water, the teen contorted her face into a grimace of
mock terror. "Oh, no! The dreaded pet name! Something must be wrong!" Seeing his
face, her sarcastic tone melted away. "Unless something IS wrong... Oh my."
Sitting on an old folding chair, Greg stared at his teen daughter. "You
can't tell your mom about this. Okay?"
"Why," Phoebe asked with a hint of resentment in her voice, "would I want to
talk to HER?"
"Not the point," he retorted without a pause. "Your dramatic antics can
really let the cat out of the bag, and you know it. You can't tell her."
"I understand..." she nodded, pulling the rubber band out of her hair.
Cascades of midnight blue hair fell about her face and down to her waist. "Now,
what in the Sun's name is wrong?"
Fiddling with his wedding ring, Greg grimaced. "I got a great job promotion
today," he told her.
"Wow," the girl sarcastically put in. "I'll be sure not to tell Mom such
awful and grievous news. She just might curl up and..."
"Give me a chance to finish," he cut in, lowering his brown eyes. "Don't
interrupt until I say okay. Got it?"
She made a face, but said nothing more.
"My job promotion would be-by far-the best thing to happen to this family
since your mother walked down the aisle with yours truly," he solemnly continued.
"But, we would have to move."
"To where?" she asked at his pause. "To, like, Juuban district? To the
opposite end of Tokyo?"
"To the United States of America," Greg finished. "To the USA."
"No way!" exclaimed Phoebe with an elated grin. "Pack your bags, Dad!
This'll be SO much fun!"
"Okay," he cut in, "that is far enough. Think of all the repercussions of us
moving, Pheebs."
"The Scouts..." she sighed, leaning against the wall with a sigh. "My
school, my friends, my life..."
Greg rolled his eyes. "And your mother, Phoebe. Your mother." He glanced
thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Her hospital, her job of being a Planet Mistress...
it's all right here."
"You couldn't possibly take her away from it," the teen agreed, playing with
a loose thread on her leotard. "But, Dad, this is such a great opportunity..."
"And therein lies the problem," he commented wistfully. "Something-someone-
will be hurt, no matter what choice I take."
Phoebe shrugged. "I have no words of wisdom to give you, Dad. I don't even
know where I stand in the matter."
"Obviously," he mumbled, wrapped up in his own thoughts.
"But I'm with you," she continued, "win or lose, move or not."
"Thanks, Pheebs," he smiled a bit, standing slowly. "Just, don't mention
this to anyone. Not even the cat."
"He's just a cat," she pointed out.
Greg shook his head. "He's a loud-mouthed TALKING cat, Phoebe. Don't even
think about it. Understand?"
"Understood," she nodded. "See you later?"
"Yep," he responded, walking up the basement steps.
As she began to stretch again, a voice chimed in. "Tough thing that your pop
has to do. If I were you, I'd stay here."
"Orb!" Phoebe whirled around and glared at the orange and white cat who was
sitting innocently in the chair where Greg had been just moments ago. "Damn you!"
"Oooh, strong words from the girl who never swears," he mocked with a laugh.
"What are you going to do? 'Heat Flash' me to death?"
She growled. "Why were you listening in, anyway? What's it to you?"
"I'm the Queen's cat, too," he commented. "I need to tell her all I hear..."
"No!" Phoebe interrupted. "You mention anything you heard outside of this
very room, you're lunch meat!"
"And," continued the cat with a wicked grin, "you have mice-tasty mice-
living down here."
She rolled her eyes and hit herself in the forehead. "You mean that you
weren't eavesdropping to be evil?"
"Don't tell Diana," he sighed, "but no. I was innocently eating mice and
heard your whole conversation." He smiled up at her. "Forgive me?"
"Forgiven," she agreed with a smile. "Now, will you leave me alone to
dance?"
"Sure," he responded, jumping off of the chair. "But- quick catch of the
day-your toe kicks need work."
Avoiding the ballet slipper that was thrown at him, Orb ran upstairs.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Everything's fine, Mom," Tara assured the Priestess, putting another suitcase
in the trunk. "We've got it under control."
"And, even if they don't," Diana chimed in. "I do, Mars. So have a great time
at the Shinto Conference."
Raye still looked fretful. Flipping a bit of hair behind her back, she glanced
at the two teen girls. "Are you guys sure?"
Rolling his hunter green eyes, Chad wrapped an arm around his wife. "They're
fine. You're paranoid. Now, get in the car."
"Chad's right," Reeny chimed in. "I mean, you've known me forever! Aren't I
responsible enough?"
The couple looked at one another and burst out laughing.
"I mean it!" the Princess yelped, glaring at them. "I took care of the whole
Palace once!"
"And you remember what happened, don't you?" Diana asked with mockery in her
voice.
Reeny stuck out her tongue. "You know quite well that the itty bitty grease
fire was NOT my fault!"
The dark haired Priestess stopped laughing. "Grease fire? Maybe we should
stay..."
Opening the car door, Chad gently pushed his wife inside. "There are extra
keys to the temple under the counter by the bells, but be careful with them. There's
two hundred dollars in cash hidden in the Luna cookie jar, and...hmm..."
"Our day to burn leaves is tomorrow, don't leave the computer on if there's an
electrical storm, be sure to do the laundry, feed the iguana..." Tara smiled at her
father. "We'll be fine, Father. Don't worry, alright?"
He nodded and gave her a hug. "If you say so, Tara..." he agreed, looking into
her green eyes. "Just be careful."
"Of course," she agreed.
Climbing into the driver's seat of the car, Chad took one long look at the two
girls and one cat. "I'll call tomorrow, Tara. So long, Diana, Princess."
"Reeny!" The pink haired girl prepared to throw a tantrum. "My name is Reeny!"
As the red Audi pulled away from the curb and into the street, Tara sighed.
"This will be one interesting stretch of four days."
"Do you think we should have an all-Scout party?" the Princess asked, sticking
her hands in her back pockets.
Diana glared at her charge. "No parties, Reeny! No way!"
Tara shrugged. "I'll think about it." Noticing the trails of steam that her
breath was leaving in the air, the younger girl made a face. "Can we go inside,
though? I'm freezing."
"Good idea," the cat remarked. "I could use a nice cup of cream..."
The trio all smiled and started up the stairs to Cherry Hill Temple.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It was a typical fall day in Crystal Tokyo as Richard Umino accompanied his
mother to Crystal Palace. Well, maybe not so typical, after all... An eighteen-year-
old boy walking towards the Palace-with or without his mother-was quite atypical.
"Lyra! Hey, Lyra!" Richard called, seeing a familiar head of curls bob past
him. Getting no response from the blonde, he cleared his throat. "Lyra Mokoti!" he
yelled to her.
His mother, a woman in her forties with red hair and smiling blue eyes,
smiled. "You like her."
"Mother," he growled as the girl waved and started towards her friend, "she's
just a friend."
"And I used to say such a thing about your father," she returned in her
Brooklyn accent.
"Hello Richard!" Lyra smiled. "I haven't seen you for a couple of days, and
you've been missing Astronomy Club again."
"Really, now?" His mother glared up at him. "What have you been staying after
school for, then?"
"Mom," he groaned, blushing. "Not in front of Lyra, please."
"This is your mother?" asked Lyra with a warm grin. "Hello, Mrs. Umino. I'm
Lyra Motoki, a student at Crossroads." She extended a hand.
"Call me Molly, please," she responded, shaking the warm hand. "It's funny you
mention Crossroads. I graduated from there."
"Really?" the girl inquired. "That's so cool!"
Richard rolled his blue eyes. "Lyra, I hate to be a party pooper, but my
mother has a meeting with Neo-Queen Serenity soon."
"I just came from the Palace," the teen sighed. "But Reeny wasn't there."
"You know Reeny?" Molly asked, shocked beyond reasonable belief. "You don't
happen to be related to Andrew Mokoti, do you?"
Lyra nodded, her brown eyes smiling. "I'm his daughter."
Biting her lip, Molly nodded, too. "Well, it was nice to meet, you. I hope to
be seeing more of you."
"Bye, Rich!" she smiled. "Nice to meet you, Molly!" Lyra started off in the
direction she had originally been going.
Richard looked at his mother with curiosity gleaming in his blue eyes. "What
was all that about?" he asked.
Jarring herself from personal thoughts, Molly looked up at her son. "Excuse
me?"
"You heard me," he condescendingly spat. "Why was her last name so important?"
"I know," began Molly, "more about that girl than you do. I know more about
Lyra than her parents do. I," she softly said, "know more about Lyra Star Mokoti
than even SHE knows." She sighed. "And you'll find out."
He ran a hand through his dark red hair. "When?" he questioned.
His mother nodded. "Soon enough, Richard. Soon enough."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Mom! Mom!" called Hannah, dropping her purse on the floor by the door. "Mom!"
"Shh," hissed Susan from her spot on the couch. "Your sister is asleep."
The young woman glanced at the clock. "It's two p.m. Why in Heaven's name is
Haley still asleep?"
Michelle entered the room with a large cup of tea. "Because she was playing
Nintendo games till three in the morning again."
"What?" Hannah scratched her head. "That makes absolutely no sense, Mom. That
girl, as stubborn as she is, has a whole lot of common sense."
Susan sighed and readjusted her position. "A certain Guardian of Time told
your 'Papa', Alexandra, not to purchase a certain evil video game system. But,
Alexandra did not listen, and..."
"Shut up, Susan," spat Alex, rubbing her temples. "I already have a headache."
Running a hand through her shoulder-length black hair, Hannah raised an
eyebrow. "Did I miss something?"
"Alex was playing some sort of racing game this morning and made herself dizzy
with it." Michelle sipped her tea with a sigh. "Susan is sick for...reasons that we
will later discuss...and I am perfectly fine." She shrugged. "How was your brunch
with Brian and his family?"
"Good," Hannah admitted. "But he wants to have dinner with you guys really
soon."
"Oh dear," thought Michelle aloud. "I'm not sure that I am fully prepared to
meet my oldest child's boyfriend..."
Alexandra sat next to Michelle on the piano bench and wrapped an arm around
her. "The only problem I see is preparing Brian for the shock of our family
arrangement."
"What shock?" Footsteps sounded on the stairs as Haley entered the room, clad
in comet pajamas. "What's so scary about us?" she looked at Hannah with love in her
teal eyes. "I mean, so what if you have two mothers? And an aunt? We all love you,
so it solves the problem at hand."
"Or starts the problem all over again," responded her sister. "This is a lot
different an arrangement than he has. I mean, his mom and dad remind me of Mom and
Mom... except..."
"They're not the same gender," cut in Haley. "Get over it."
"And you'd adore his brother, Haley," the Mistress of Saturn finished.
Michelle leaned against Alexandra and stared lovingly at her daughter.
"Perhaps, Hannah, you're afraid that he'll think less of you." She smiled sadly.
"Am I right?"
Hannah nodded and ran her hands through her black hair. "I suppose so..."
"You'd love him the same if he was in your place," Susan commented. "What's
the difference?"
"Can he please come over for dinner?" Hannah asked, a bit of valor in her
voice. "Will you let him join us?"
"Tomorrow night," Alexandra smiled.
"Definitely," Susan agreed.
"Neat!" Haley put in.
Michelle was very quiet. "Only if Terrence comes."
"EXCUSE ME?" The Guardian of Time's jaw went slack as she sat straight up.
"What did you just say?"
"I said," repeated Michelle, "that Brian can come if Terrence does." She
smiled wickedly at Susan. "I'm sure that we all want to meet Susan's boyfriend."
"SUSAN'S BOYFRIEND?" gasped both Hannah and Haley in unison.
Susan blushed and looked at the ground. "Here we go again..." she muttered,
beginning the whole story of Terrence.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"I'm bored," sighed Greed, walking down the street of Crystal Tokyo. "Who
would have guessed that this big old city would be so boring?"
Death rolled his black eyes. "Do you ever stop complaining?"
"Nope!" she chirped, latching onto his arm. "How about we get a bite to eat
and then go to that cute temple?"
"The temple again?" he asked in dread. "Last time we were there, we had a
run-in with the Sailor Scouts."
"That's the plan!" she informed him, green eyes flashing in determination.
"Revenge will be ours!"
Shaking his head slowly, Death glanced at the angular wonder that was Crystal
Palace. Would the Raiders ever sit inside the Palace and look out on their people-
their slaves? Would they succeed? Or would doom once again rule their lives?
"Hey, this place looks good!" Greed called, snapping him to attention. "It's
called 'Jupiter's Delight'! Reminds me of all the Greek mythology stuff that Doubt
briefed us on..." she stared at the friendly-looking restaurant. "Want to go in?"
"I suppose so," sighed Death, freeing his arm from her grasp and wrapping it
around her. "I'm just as hungry as you are..."
"Good!" she announced, leading him to lunch.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Do you want fries with that?" asked Alice, scribbling on the tiny pad of
paper before her.
The man at the table shook his head and handed the menu over to the auburn-
haired teen. "And be sure to hold the pickles."
Making a face, the girl turned and walked to the front of the restaurant,
muttering to herself. "This isn't fair," she grumbled, tossing the menu into a bin.
"Why doesn't Mom deal with her own restaurant?"
From his spot at the front podium of 'Jupiter's Delight', Ken rolled his
chocolate eyes. "Do you think I like to do this, Al?"
"But..." she began.
"Not 'buts'..." he interrupted. "'Buts' are for people who aren't willing to
dream." Shaking his head, he smiled thoughtfully. "Outside in the world, there are
ideas that don't involve 'buts'. They involve 'ands'."
Alice sighed and groaned inwardly. Philosophy with Ken around didn't always
make a whole lot of sense. "Dad, I was just saying that my ankle hurts again," she
lied. "I guess you took it the wrong way."
"Oh," was his response.
Just then, a young couple walked in. The woman had long, braided black hair
and a tight green dress on. Her companion wore a black suit. His black hair and eyes
seemed impossibly familiar...
"Table for two," the man said in a low, throaty tone. "Please."
Ken nodded and looked at the table chart. "Hmm... Table 12. Alice will show
where it is. Alice?"
She wasn't listening, but staring at the couple. Why did she have a nagging
feeling of déjà vu that she had previously met them? Who were they?
"Alice Aurora Kino!" Ken hollered, snapping her back to reality. "Can you
please show this couple to table 12?"
Nodding, Alice grabbed two menus and led them to the table. It was by a window
a rather nice. "Our specials today is my mother's homemade meatloaf, cherry pie, and
smoked salmon," she automatically told them, taking out a pad of paper. "Can I start
you out with a drink?"
They both ordered coffee and sent the teen on her marry way to wait on more
tables.
Instead, Alice went to the phone and quickly dialed Phoebe's phone number.
"Hey, Pheebs, it's Al," she impatiently said when her friend picked up the
phone. "I need you to come over to my mom's restaurant. I have this really funny
feeling in my stomach about two customers..."
"Really?" inquired Phoebe through the phone. "Why?"
Alice gulped and felt herself tremble. "I think... I think that they might be
Raiders..."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Richard looked at his mother through the Palace security gate. "You sure you
want to go alone?"
She laughed in her high laugh and then glanced lovingly at her son. "I'll be
fine, Richard... The Palace was a second home to me before you were born."
"Really?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, really," she replied in her New York accent. "Don't worry about me. Go
hang out with that cute Lyra girl or something."
"Mother," he blushed, "she's just a friend..."
Molly shook her head and smiled knowingly. "I see the stars you get in your
eyes when you see her, even for a moment." She winked. "But, that's alright with me.
Had to happen sooner or later..."
He smiled back at her, not knowing exactly what to believe. Turning from the
Palace gates, he glanced at Tokyo.
A fall breeze ruffled his hair lightly as he looked at the busy city. Flowers
still bloomed despite the October cold, and people still ran around in tank tops.
What a wonderful world they lived in... Full of peace and tranquillity...
And somewhere out there was a beautiful girl named Lyra Mokoti.
Richard Umino shrugged and decided to pay that sweet, beautiful girl a visit,
just like his mother had suggested.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Reeny! Come back here!" yelled Tara as the Princess ran across the temple
courtyard with her broom. "You'll..." The Shinto grimaced as the pink-haired girl
tripped over her red and white temple robes and ended up in a pile of leaves.
"...trip and fall..."
The Princess climbed to her feet and groaned. "I will never again even THINK
about playing keep-away with brooms," she muttered, brushing leaves off her robes.
"That hurt! Who would have guessed that the ground would be so hard?"
"It's cement," replied Tara without sarcasm. "It's SUPPOSED to be hard."
Reeny just stuck out her tongue and resumed sweeping.
"Girls!" called a familiar voice. "Girls!" Diana came running out of a temple
building with Reeny's Locket of the Moon around her own cat neck. "We're needed at
Lita's restaurant right away!"
"Lita?" inquired Tara, confused.
"Mistress of Jupiter," Reeny responded. Then, she turned to her cat. "What's
wrong?"
Diana sighed and shook the locket off her neck. "It turns out that the Raiders
are there."
"WHAT?" asked both girls in unison.
"Greed and Death are eating lunch at the restaurant. Confused me, too, but I
guess they were on their way to elsewhere."
"We planning an ambush or what?" Reeny scooped up her locket.
"I think we should just run over there. Check it out. Ambush them once we're
all at Lita's," suggested Tara helpfully. "We don't want to upset the other Scouts
until the last possible second."
"And we don't want Chibi-Star showing up prematurely," agreed Reeny.
Diana raised an eyebrow. "What about the Starlit Prince?"
"Oh, HE can show up when ever he wants," she grinned, stars in her eyes. "I
like him."
Rolling her eyes, Tara looked nervously at her watch. "Can we PLEASE get
going, guys?"
Diana nodded. "Let's go!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Richard smiled.
He had been wandering down streets in the most suburban area of Tokyo when
something began subconsciously nag him. The feeling refused to stop until he found
Lyra's big, white house on Venus Road.
And then, he smiled.
Lyra was sitting on the still-green grass of her front yard, teaching a little
brown haired girl to cartwheel. The afternoon sunlight reflected off her dark blonde
hair and made her brown eyes sparkle.
"Come on, Becky! You can do it!" she cheered as the younger girl attempted a
cartwheel...and fell on her rear-end.
Becky sniffled. "I'm just no good at this, Lyra!" she said, on the verge of
tears.
"You can do it," Richard bravely called to the girl, smiling and walking
toward the two girls. "It takes a lot of practice, but..." He turned a perfect
cartwheel in the grass and landed on his feet.
Lyra smiled, blushing a tiny bit. "Better than I could ever do, Rich..." she
told him, leaning back on her elbows.
He smiled back at her. "Can I ask you a quick question, Lyra?" he inquired
bravely.
"Like what?" she requested, curiosity sparkling in her eyes.
Eyeing Becky, who was watching from her vintage point in a pile of leaves,
Richard grimaced. "Well, is there a place that's a bit less...open to Becky's
marauding eyes?"
Lyra nodded and led him to the sidewalk, a good fifty feet from the child-
infested leaves. "What's up, Rich? You look extremely nervous..."
He gulped and looked down at her. He had a good foot on her, but he didn't
care. His mother's words leapt back at him.
'I see the stars you get in your eyes when you see her.'
"Lyra, would you like to see a movie with me tomorrow night?" he requested,
smiling at her and pushing his glasses up on his nose.
She jumped a bit and appeared to be taken aback. "Are you serious?" she
quietly asked, staring a bit at him. "You, an upper-classman, want to take a ninth-
grader to a movie?"
"If you want to go," he responded, a hint of sadness in his deep voice. "I
would really like it if you would come..."
"Of course!" she told him, a grin crossing her face. "I would absolutely love
to!" Stars filled her brown eyes as she stared up at him.
Just then, a boy's head popped out of the front door. "LYRA! PHONE!" the
little boy screamed, loud enough for the whole street to hear. "PULL YOURSELF AWAY
FROM THAT BOY AND COME TALK TO ALICE!"
The blonde blushed. "I have a call, and since Alice's working today..."
"It must be important," he finished for her. "That's fine. I'll pick you up at
eight, alright?"
"Alright!" she grinned, running towards the house. "Bye, Rich!"
"Bye..." he trailed off, smiling to himself. "Bye..."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Damn Raiders," muttered Haley, arriving at the restaurant. "And the movie was
just getting to the good part!"
Alice lowered her eyes and led the last Scout to the large party room near the
back of her mother's restaurant. "Don't you start, Haley," she hissed. "I am really
not in a good mood."
"Is it your ankle again?" the eldest Scout asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, and just everything with Artemis lately..." she shrugged. "No bother,
though."
In the room, Reeny was desperately trying to draw up a plan with Phoebe's
help. Unfortunately, not much good was coming out of the arrangement.
"You guys," Lyra stressed, "why are you so set on getting a plan?"
"Let's just beat them up!" Alice put in, sitting on the edge of a table. "I
still have two hours to put in of work, anyway."
Tara rolled her green eyes. "And I suppose that your mother would be pleased
if you were to blow up her restaurant in the process."
"Bite me, Yuuichirou," was the auburn-headed girl's responce. "You're such a
little..."
"Stop it!" Lyra shot at Alice. "You be nice! Tara hasn't done anything wrong
today!"
Reeny looked at the blonde with a wicked gleam in her red eyes. "Mokoti's
being feisty today!"
"I think that Alice is right," Phoebe added to the noise. "After all, we can't
wait for them to get us. That's suicide."
Haley, who was staring at the five other Scouts but not really listening,
cleared her throat.
"The most important thing is that we stop bickering," she softly said, looking
at her five friends. "How can we get along as Scouts if you act like this."
The pink-haired Princess, the tall Shinto, the happy-go-lucky blonde, the
dramatic intellectual, and the impulsive cook all stopped their separate fighting
and looked at Haley.
"Thank you. Now, here's the plan," she continued strongly. "Alice is right.
We're going to ambush the Raiders, but we're going to do it in style. None of this
slaughter stuff that half of you are so attuned to." She let her teal eyes fly from
Scout to Scout. "Understand?"
"I guess," Reeny spoke up from the center of the group. "But will it work?"
"Worth a try," put in Phoebe with a grin. "After all, I'll try anything once."
"Okay, then," Alice said, jumping up. "Let's do it, Scouts!" She held up her
locket. "Aurora Borealis Galactic Power..."
"Moon Galactic Power..."
"Comet Galactic Power..."
"Polaris Galactic Power..."
"Phoenix Galactic Power..."
"Earth Galactic Power..."
"MAKE UP!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Can I talk to you?" Greg nervously asked, standing in the doorway of his
wife's office.
Amy turned around and looked at him. His black hair was a bit disheveled, and
his dark eyes seemed sad. He was tall, muscular... But inside was still the nervous
Crystal Carrier that she had once fell so far in love with. "Is something wrong,
Greg?" she asked, concern in her voice.
Greg gulped and sat in a chair next to his wife. "Yeah, something is. It's
work..."
"Oh, dear," Amy commented, staring at him with her ocean blue eyes. "Did you
get fired?"
He shook his head. "Promoted to another office."
"Wow!" she exclaimed, beaming. Seeing the far-off and disappointed look in his
eyes, her smile melted into a frown.
"We'd have to move to the states," he told her, sadness in his voice. "We'd
have to leave everything we have."
Amy gulped, tears coming into her eyes. "I see..."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Greed smiled as she sipped her coffee. "This human food isn't half bad, you
know."
"Yeah. And this cherry pie tastes very good," admitted her companion as he
finished off his dessert. "We should do this more often."
She raised an eyebrow. "Eat?"
"No," he chuckled. "I mean go out. Do things. Like a human couple would."
She smiled, love in her green eyes. "That would be very nice, actually. I
really enjoy spending some time with you... I mean, other than the time we spend
planing the downfall of Earth."
"Yeah," he responded with a sigh. "Do you ever stop to think that this might
be wrong?"
"Wrong?" she asked in horror. "Why would it be wrong?"
Death shrugged and sipped his water with a thoughtful expression on his dark
face. "Well, we're ruining other people's lives. We were all mad when Illness
died... But we're going to kill people the same way the Scouts killed him."
"I see what you mean," she nodded, biting a fingernail. "But, we're doing this
to save our people. I'm sure they all understand...somehow..."
"We should explain it," thought Death aloud. "We should tell the Sailor
Scouts..."
"Tell us what?" came a voice.
Greed groaned and snapped her fingers, changing her human clothing into her
tight green leather ensemble. "Not you again... Can't we just eat lunch in peace?"
For her spot in the doorway, Sailor Moon thought about this. "Well, you do
need to eat..."
"MOON!" yelled Sailor Aurora Borealis, making a face. "They're evil,
remember?"
"But Death's so cute..." Moon muttered, playing with the red bow that spanned
across her chest. "We wouldn't want him to starve to death..."
"We are the Sailor Scouts!" yelled Sailor Phoenix, stepping forward. "We're
here to bust your butts!"
Sailor Earth rolled her green eyes. "Good one," she sighed.
Looking at the Scouts with his black eyes, Death raised a hand. "Dark rain!"
Black, searing liquid began falling from the ceiling and onto the six Scouts.
"Damn!" hollered Comet as the hot fluid hit her bare arms. "That is so damn
hot! Damn! Damn!"
"Enough!" muttered Phoenix, trying to avoid the rain. "It's bad that we're
being burnt, fine... WE DO NOT NEED YOUR SWEARING!"
Sailor Earth glared at the two Raiders. They were laughing as the Scouts
whined about the burns they were receiving.
"Earthly Thunderstorm... STRIKE!" she yelled, black hair flying about her.
Lightning, rain, and hail fell onto the two Raiders... and onto the Scouts,
cooling down the dark rain.
"Good idea, Earth!" Sailor Polaris commented without sarcasm. "We're not
getting burnt any more!"
Aurora Borealis rang some water from her lavender skirt. "Now, we're getting
soaked."
"Masochist," muttered Earth under her breath.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Aurora Borealis shot back, virtually
forgetting about the rain.
Earth smiled sweetly. "Nothing..."
"A little rain won't stop them for long," observed Sailor Comet. "Why don't
we double team them, Phoenix?"
Sailor Phoenix considered this. "I like that idea a lot, Comet. Shall we?"
Greed, who was busy covering her sword to keep it from rusting, looked at the
Scouts in horror. "Uh-oh," she muttered to Death.
Due to his attempting to stop the thunderstorm, Death ignored her.
"Comet Crater..."
"Phoenix Heat..."
"Death?" called Greed, pulling on his shirtsleeve. "DEATH?"
"CLOSE!"
The floor opened up below the two Raiders.
"FLASHING!"
Steam and fire erupted from Sailor Phoenix's outstretched hands and flew
towards Death and Greed.
Looking over at Greed, Death realized that he was practically floating above
the ground. "Uh... Bye!"
Both Raiders disappeared, and the two Scouts groaned as their attacks
destroyed a table.
Aurora Borealis closed her eyes. "Mom is going to kill us..." she muttered,
shaking her head.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Michelle, have you seen my suit?" asked Alexandra from inside the closet. "I
can't find it for the life of me."
The aquamarine haired woman walked out of the bathroom and looked at Alex. "I
took it to the cleaners, dear."
"WHAT?" She stared at the musician. "You did WHAT?"
Michelle sighed. "I took it to the cleaners, Alex. Don't worry, though-I
bought you this really cute dress you'll love..."
"Dress?" she repeated. "You bought me a dress?"
"It's a gold, sleeveless dress. Just screams your name to me," Michelle
continued. "Really cute. You can wear the amber earrings that I gave you for your
last birthday and then... Hmm... Maybe that cute silver necklace with the navy
stone? I don't know..."
"A dress," Alexandra sighed. "What possessed you to buy a dress?"
Playing with an aqua strand of hair, Michelle wrapped her arms around Alex's
neck. "Because you have to look gorgeous to meet Brian, dear one. After all, he's
Hannah's boyfriend."
"I always sort of...hoped...that Hannah would stay younger longer," admitted
the blonde, stroking Michelle's hair. "It's so heart-wrenching to see them grow up."
"I know..." Michelle rested her head on Alex's shoulder. "But, sometimes,
that's just the way it is. Think of how all the other Mistresses feel."
"The other Mistresses have younger children," was Alexandra's annoyed
response. "The other Mistresses can have children still..."
"And so could we," Michelle responded.
"No." The blonde hugged her lover close. "As much as I hate them growing up, I
wouldn't have it any other way."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Hannah stood alone on the front porch, pacing nervously.
"What is he going to say?" she asked herself aloud. "I mean, how can I explain
to him that I have lesbian mothers, a sarcastic adopted Sailor Scout sister, and a
pregnant, single aunt whose boyfriend's joining us and doesn't know about the baby?"
She adjusted her glasses. "I'll scare him off."
The door opened behind her, and the young woman whirled around to see Susan
step out. "Does this dress make me look fat?" she half-jokingly inquired, modeling
the long crimson dress she was wearing. Already, just a tiny bit of baby-girth was
starting to show.
"How pregnant are you?" asked Hannah, staring.
Susan grimaced. "That bad, huh?" Looking down at herself, she shrugged. "A
little over a month. Plus, Mistresses have a gestation period of..."
"Six months. I know." The younger woman glanced up at her aunt. "Are you going
to tell Terrence tonight?"
The Guardian of Time bit her lip, a tear coming to her eye. "It's not easy..."
she commented, looking at Hannah. "To have such a secret and not be able to tell the
person who most needs to know." She sighed. "But something good is bound to come out
of this. I know it."
"Something good," echoed Hannah, staring into the setting sun.
"Out in the world, Hannah, there are ideas. There are chances. And then, there
are wonders. They're held in our minds, to come out at a moment's notice." Susan
wrapped an arm around her niece. "Ideas, chances, wonders. And each are born in the
mind of a child." She sighed. "Maybe in my child, there will be some. Maybe, when
you have children, they will be in your child's mind. Only time will tell."
"Susan," Hannah softly said. "I know I never tell it to you, or to my moms, or
to Haley, but I love you all so much."
"And we love you," thought the Guardian of Time aloud.
Just then, a white car pulled into the driveway.
Hannah smiled apprehensively. "It's Brian," she told Susan.
The taller woman detached herself from Hannah. "I'll go inside, dear one. Good
luck."
"Thanks," Hannah responded, watching the front door close behind her aunt.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Richard stood on the doorstep, staring at the door in front of him. Lyra's
door. The door into Lyra's house.
"What if her parents think I'm a total idiot?" he asked the door. "What if she
hates me? What if she doesn't want to date me?"
"And what," came a small voice, "happens if all your 'what ifs' drag you from
something truly great?" A little blonde girl popped out from behind a bush. "You
don't get it, do you?"
Richard looked down at the child, who was probably about the age of six. Her
hair was corn-silk blonde, and her eyes were the color of spring clover. "Who are
you, little one?" Something in her eyes sparked recognition...
She stuck out her tongue. "Celeste, silly! Don't you remember the pizza
parlor?"
"How could I forget?" he rhetorically asked, ruffling her hair. "Nice to see
you again, kid."
The little girl just grinned mischievously and threw open the door. "HEY
EVERYBODY! LYRA'S DATE IS HERE!" she called, walking inside.
A short blonde woman wearing an orange apron and a large red bow in her hair
appeared from the next room. "Well, hello Richard. Come on in." As he walked into
the house, she offered a hand. "I'm Mina Mokoti, but you can call me Mrs. Mokoti."
"Nice to meet you," he politely said, shaking her hand. "I've heard a lot
about you."
She raised an eyebrow. "How ironic. We've hardly heard anything about you."
"Come off it, Mina," called another voice. "You'll scare the poor boy." A
tall, blonde man with the same brown eyes as Lyra had entered and smiled warmly.
"I'm Andrew, which you can be sure and call me."
"Hello," Richard cordially responded, gulping. "I was just telling Mrs. Mokoti
how much I've heard about you."
Andrew's smile grew wider as he shrugged. "Well, that's our little Lyra. Such
a chatterbox, she is. Sit down, Richard-she's not quite ready yet."
Gulping, he pushed up his glasses and then proceeded to sit on the edge of the
couch. He nervously toyed with the edge of his jacket while Mina talked.
"Now, I'm assuming that you'll be very good to our little girl tonight," she
said. "After all, her birthday is in about four months, which means that, right now,
she's only fourteen."
Richard attempted a smile. "I know that," he responded. "She mentioned her
birthday once at Astronomy Club."
"Good for her," continued Mina, not without sarcasm in her voice. "You cannot
be out past eleven at night, and be sure to carry mace spray."
Andrew lowered his eyes. "Mina..."
"No monkey business, either," she told the young man in a lower tone. "She's
younger than you, so I don't want..."
Celeste ran into the living room and threw herself onto Mina's lap, providing
a rather large distraction. "Can I go to the temple for a little while?" she
inquired, eyes wide. "The Princess is there!"
"I suppose," was her mother's response. "Be careful on your bike, though."
Celeste clambered off her mother's lap, winked knowingly at Richard, and ran
out of the house.
Mina smiled again. "Now, if you should need anything, be sure to call us. If
anything happens, call us. If you just want to talk, call..."
"MA!" came a teen voice. "Are you trying to scare my date witless?"
Richard took a breath of relief upon seeing Lyra on the stairs. Her curly hair
was pulled back by a loose orange ribbon that flowed freely down her back. She
clothing consisted of a pair of black dress pants and a too-big orange sweater. He
smiled widely. She looked positively...gorgeous, he decided.
"Lyra," Mina sternly informed her daughter, "I think he's a bit to old for
you."
"Mina!" hissed Andrew through clenched teeth. "Cut it out, alright?"
An expression of mock innocence crossed her lovely face. "Who, me? Did I say
something wrong?"
Lyra rolled her brown eyes. "Of course not, Ma. Come on, Rich." She tugged on
his jacket sleeve and started out the door.
"And be sure not to have too many sweets!" Mina called after them.
Andrew, who had followed the young couple out the front door, shook his in
exasperation. "Ignore her. She's a ravenous viper when it comes to the kids," he
told Richard, reaching into his pants pockets. He pulled out a fifty-dollar bill and
handed it to the young man. "Now, don't spend this all in one place."
Lyra blushed. "Dad..." she growled.
"What?" Andrew asked. "Now, one more thing."
Richard dreaded knowing what that 'one thing' would be.
"Have fun."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Brian was a blonde haired man. His copper eyes were rimmed by stylish black
glasses, and he was rather short; Hannah had a good three inches on him. But,
besides that, he looked rather mature for his age of twenty one.
"I hope your relatives like well-burnt apple pie," he told Hannah with a sly
grin. "My mother insisted on baking a pie, but she can't cook."
Hannah giggled and smiled lovingly at him. "Can we talk?"
Brian raised an eyebrow. "Talk? Oh dear. When women usually want to talk..."
"I don't mean it like that, sweetie," she told him, sitting on the porch
swing. "But, I need to warn you about something."
"Like what?" he asked, totally confused beyond reason.
Hannah sighed. Here it came. The truth. The story. Her family.
"Well, for starters, my sister is adopted. And so am I." She gulped. The
easiest part was out in the open.
He put his hand on hers. "That's not a big deal..."
"It gets worse," she attempted. "I also have an aunt... Well, kind of. She's
just a really close family friend who lives with us." Hannah played with a splinter
on the swing. "She's single, pregnant, and a bit on the sarcastic side..."
Brian raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem phased. "That's nothing all that
awful..."
"Her boyfriend, the brother of King Endymion and father of the baby, is coming
tonight. To make matters worse, he doesn't know that his girlfriend is going have
his child." Hannah leaned back against the swing. "But that's not the worst part,
Brian. I mean, you would probably still care about me if those details were the only
weird things about my family, but..."
He looked at her. "What is wrong, Hannah? You seem to be avoiding the question
at hand."
She sighed, nearly crying. "I... My... Umm... It's like this," she stammered,
staring into his copper eyes. "I have two parents."
"Really? I never would have guessed." Brian's voice was filled with a loving
sarcasm. "Now, will you PLEASE explain all this to me before I am forced to burst
into your house and figure it all out for myself?"
Hannah sighed and felt herself tremble. Smoothing her long, black skirt, she
took a deep breath. "My parents aren't just any parents... They're Alexandra and
Michelle, two lesbians."
He looked at her, still a bit confused. "Hannah, is that all? Did you actually
that I'd be the least bit phased?" Wrapping an arm around her, he smiled. "You never
mentioned a father, but always said 'parents' in plural. I thought...maybe...that
was your general position, but I didn't mention it." He shrugged. "I thought it
might have been a moot point."
Blinking back tears, Hannah shook her head. "You're too smart for me," she
smiled sadly. "Doesn't it bother you, though? That my family isn't normal?" She
stared into his bright bronze eyes, still trying not to cry.
Brian shrugged. "Hannah, I love you. It doesn't matter who raised you. I
wouldn't care if you were raised by Serenity herself, or by the poorest man in the
world. I wouldn't care if you were raised by aliens, or Sailor Scouts, or Planet
Mistresses."
Flushing at this, she gritted her teeth. "I'm glad."
"Now," he told her, standing, "I know it sounds odd, but even blackened apple
pie can get too cold. Would you like to go inside?"
Laughing, she smiled and took his hand. "Of course."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Reeny was sitting on the temple steps, reading a comic book, when a little
blonde girl came running up, panting.
"Princess Reeny!" the girl called, green eyes smiling. "Princess!"
The pink-haired girl glanced up and was about to start a lecture on her name
being Reeny when she looked at the child. Those eyes... that purple bow... Why was
she so familiar?
"Can I help you, little one?" she asked, closing the comic. "Do you need a
good luck charm."
She shook her head. "I'm Lyra's sister Celeste, and I need your help!"
This caught Reeny's attention. "Is she in danger?" inquired the Princess,
leaping up. "Does she have an important message for me?"
Celeste blushed deeply. "Uh... no," she admitted. "Lyra's on a date."
"A date?" Reeny giggled. "A DATE? With who?"
"His name is Richard," the girl told her. "And he's really not her type."
This made the teen freeze. "Richard? Oh, man... I would LOVE to witness that!"
She laughed again. "Really, now, Celeste, what do you need?"
"I need you, Princess," she informed Reeny. "You have to come with me while I
spy on them."
Red eyes went wide. "Spy? Do you know what Lyra will do to you?"
Celeste smirked. "She'll only hurt us if we get caught." She shrugged.
"But... if you're not up to it..."
The Princess ruffled Celeste's hair. "You're a lot like I was at six, you know
that?" Smiling, Reeny groped in her robes for the car keys. "You're lucky that I
have my uncle's car for the week. Otherwise, you'd be S.O.L."
"What's that mean?" Celeste inquired innocently.
Reeny went pale. "Never mind. Give me five minutes to change, and we're out of
here. Okay?"
"Okay!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Phoebe looked at her mother. She had never seen Amy so pale and sick-looking.
It was a scary thing for the teen.
"We've decided, Phoebe," Greg solemnly said, folding his hands. "After tossing
around several ideas on my job, we've found the solution."
Amy nodded as her husband spoke. "There are certain aspects to your life that
prevents us from moving, such as the Sailor Scouts and your schooling."
"We want you to benefit from everything that we decide on." Greg played with
his wedding ring. "That's what makes this so difficult."
The teen sighed. "I understand, you guys. But it's not fair to take you from y
our job, Dad..." Tears welled in her ice blue eyes.
"You won't be." The doctor's tone was icy. "We found one solution-one outcome-
that gives both your father, me, and you a good chance at happiness."
He smiled, dark eyes sad. "Your mother's position was about to be taken over,
and she was going to be transferred to another hospital..."
"In Boston, which is right where your dad's new job would be," Amy clarified,
slowing swallowing. "So, that was two down."
"One to go," Phoebe sighed. "So, I guess we're moving..."
"WE are, Phoebe," Amy told the girl after a long pause. "But YOU... you're
not."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"You must be Brian!" smiled Michelle as Hannah and her boyfriend walked in the
front door. "I'm so glad to meet you!" she exclaimed, hugging him. "You're really a
hot topic in this house, young man."
From her seat on the couch, Haley snorted. "No he's not, Mom. We talk more
about racecars than..."
Alexandra kicked her daughter in the shins, still trying to insert her
earrings. "Ignore her. She's a drug addict."
"Alex!" scolded Michelle, taking the pie from Brian. "What a thing to say!
Come to the kitchen right now!"
The blonde held out a hand to the young man. "I'm Alexandra, Hannah's other
mom." She smiled. "I was planning on wearing a suit, but a certain aqua-haired
musician took it to the dry cleaner."
Brian shook Alex's hand warmly and examined her clothing. The gold dress, as
Michelle had promised, looked great.
"I think you're lovely," he smiled.
Alexandra smirked and started off after Michelle. "Ha, Michi, did you hear
that? LOVELY! You've got a run for your money, babe..."
Hannah rolled her purple eyes and smiled a wary smile at the girl on the
couch. "This is Haley, my sister. She's sixteen."
"Hi!" the girl chirped pleasantly with a sly grin. "It's nice to finally meet
the man who keeps my sister from becoming another Susan."
Though slightly confused, Brian smiled back at her. "For what it's worth, you
don't seem as awful as Hannah makes you sound."
"Nah, I am," Haley retorted. "She's just not brave enough to get dirty with
her Glaive... YET..."
"Haley," growled Hannah under her breath.
Brian looked doubtfully at her and raised an eyebrow. "Glaive?"
Walking in with a tray of cookies, the Guardian of Time provided a
distraction. "Why, hello Brian!" Susan smiled, managing to discreetly beam her
younger niece over the head. "I'm Susan, Hannah's aunt."
He smiled warmly. "You're the one with the boyfriend, right?"
Looking at the ground, Hannah managed to keep herself from blushing.
"Why, yes," the woman responded with a smile. "And, from the sound of you,
you'll get along really well with Terry."
"Oooh, he's TERRY now!" Haley smirked, standing slowly.
She lowered her garnet eyes. "I think that Michelle is calling you, dear."
"Nope!" Haley smiled. "Not at all."
Grabbing the teen's arm, Susan dragged her niece into the kitchen.
"I'm sorry, Brian," Hannah blushed, throwing herself onto the couch. "This is
turning into the dinner from Hell."
He smirked. "And we have yet to eat," he responded.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"There they are!" hissed Reeny with a grin. "How lucky are we? Two rows behind
them!"
Celeste resisted the urge to giggle and stared at her sister and Richard, both
intently watching the previews. "Now, the fun begins."
"What's the plan, Agent Purple?" asked the Princess with a wicked grin.
Celeste, or "Agent Purple", smiled up at her newfound friend. "The goal, Agent
Hot Pink, is to retain Richard from making a move on my sister."
"Really?" Reeny asked in a small state of shock. "Isn't that a
bit...underhanded, Purple?" she inquired. "I mean, it's Lyra's date and she should
reap the benefits..."
"Those are NOT benefits!" the child snapped. "I've heard my mother talk about
upperclassmen dating younger girls before, and it's bad... It's... WRONG!" she
exclaimed.
Nearby moviegoers glared at the two girls with disdain as Celeste yelped
aloud.
Reeny blushed. "Let's just watch the movie and see what happens, okay?"
Through silent tears, the blonde girl nodded.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"A movie theater? Since when does world conquest revolve around movies?" asked
Greed, whining. "I don't get it..."
Death rolled his eyes. "I'm taking my orders from the King himself, dear. I
don't understand either, but at least I'm not whining about it."
She stuck out her tongue and wandered aimlessly about the projection booth.
"This room's so... little," she commented, leaning against the wall. "And the
theater itself is so big!"
He smiled at her innocence. "You may be the Raider of Greed," he told her,
"but you're not all that worldly."
"I know." She looked at him with love in her green eyes. "I'm still sort of
ditzy, aren't I?" she shrugged. "Oh well... it's not like I'll die tomorrow! I've
got my whole life to live!"
Death stopped what he was doing to take in a short, ragged breath. He was
shaking. Positively shaking. And he knew what that meant.
"Not today," he whispered to himself, still staring at Greed with unseeing
eyes. "Please...not today."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The doorbell rang.
Michelle, who was busy stirring the rice, looked to Alex for support. "Could
you get the door?"
The blonde sighed. "But this is a really good race!" she protested, staring at
the television screen with intent eyes.
"Alex..." warned the musician, lowering her eyes.
"Fine." High-heels clicking on the tile, Alexandra walked into the hall and
threw open the front door. "What?" she curtly asked the young man in front of her.
Repositioning the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, the man blushed deeply.
"I'm sorry, Miss," he told her apologetically. "I think I have the wrong house."
Alex shivered as she felt his green eyes dart from her face to her torso,
hips, legs, and finally to her feet.
"Yep, wrong house," he informed her after the evaluation. "Unless, of course, you're
Alex Ten'ou."
She was taken aback. "Alright, bub," she said in a low tone, cracking her
knuckles. "You better have one good explanation for how you knew my name, or..."
"Whoa!" Jumping back, he covered his face with the bottle of wine he held.
"Don't hurt me! My name is Terrence; I'm here for dinner." He peeked out from behind
the container. "I come bearing alcohol, if it helps."
The woman blushed and held the door open. "I won't hurt you as long as you
don't rat me out to Susan."
"Sets?" he inquired with a shrug. "Nah, Al... This can be our little
secret..." Looking at her once more, he winked. "You are hot, though."
"I'm gay, Terrence, if it's any help," she replied causally. "And, beyond
that, you're dating one of my best friends."
Walking out of the kitchen, Susan smiled widely. "Terry, you're just in time!
Dinner will be ready in about five minutes."
He grinned and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey, Al, you know what I just said?"
he asked, winking again at the blonde.
Alexandra groaned inwardly. "Yeah?"
"Triple it and maybe...MAYBE...it'll fit Sets here," he mused, his smile
growing.
The tall blonde rolled her eyes and took the wine into the kitchen.
Susan, meanwhile, was pointing out each family member to him. "The girl
setting the table is Haley, the woman in the black skirt is Hannah..."
"Saturn, right?" inquired Terrence in a low tone.
She nodded, but didn't say anything. "The blonde man is Brian-Hannah's
boyfriend... And you met Alex, I assume."
Michelle walked into the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. "Hello
Terrence! I'm so happy to meet you!" Hugging him, she lowered her voice. "You leave
Alexandra alone," she joked with a sly grin. "Her temper is worse than Susan's..."
"I will," he promised, glancing around the room. "Now, I don't want to seem
too forward, but who's that guy in the family portrait?" he asked, looking at a wall
hanging of the two girls, Michelle, Alex, and Susan.
Michelle and Susan both laughed. "That's Alex," Michelle responded through
giggles.
He paled, embarrassed. "She sure looks...different..." was his response. The
women just kept laughing.
"Oh, Terry," smiled Susan warmly. "We're laughing with you, dear. EVERYONE
says things like that..."
"When your sister-in-law, Serenity, first met Alex," Michelle volunteered,
"she spent an entire day trying to figure out if Alex had a girlfriend..."
Terrence choked back laughter. "You're kidding!" he exclaimed.
The aquamarine haired woman shook her head slowly. "Not in the least,
Terrence..."
Alexandra walked out of the kitchen, then, carrying a slotted spoon. "Okay,
that's enough of the 'Alexandra Ten'ou Cross-dressing Files'," she decided, waving
the spoon at both Planet Mistresses. "Besides, dinner's ready."
Susan smiled. "Good. I'm starved. Are we having pickled beats?"
Running a hand through his hair, Terrence raised an eyebrow. "You hate beats,
dear one..."
"I'm in such a mood for beats, though," she observed. "I wonder why..."
Alexandra and Michelle looked at one another nervously.
"Let's eat," the Mistress of Neptune finally said, twisting the towel in her
hands.
Her blonde counterpart nodded and started off to the dining room.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Richard stared at Lyra. She was so cute, sitting there and stuffing her face
with popcorn. He smiled, but something inside was bothering him...
He felt so drawn, both consciously and otherwise to the girl. And he couldn't
figure it out for the likes of him. She made his palms sweaty, his heart race, and
his head spin.
It couldn't be love... could it?
He shrugged and decided to be daring. He knew that Lyra liked him... Why not
try something to test that?
Slowly, deliberately, he raised the arm next to her and prepared himself to
put it around her shoulders.
"OOOOOH!" someone behind them yelled.
Jumping nearly a mile into the air, Richard withdrew his arm and looked
guiltily at his feet.
"Are you okay?" his date asked, glancing at him with her light brown eyes.
He tried to be cool. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Richard, you just jumped out of your seat." Lyra raised an eyebrow.
He blushed. "It's an intense movie, Lyra," he attempted, with a smile.
She giggled. "You're cute when you try to act all cool, you know that?"
He tried to take her hand.
"OOOOOH!" came the voice again.
He mimicked picking lint off her shirtsleeve. "You really should use Downy.
Cuts down on fuzzy things like that," Richard said calmly.
Looking doubtfully at him, Lyra shook her head. "You'll have to tell my mom
then, I suppose," she sighed, picking at her fingernails.
He cracked his knuckles, thinking about pulling the arm-over-shoulder move
again.
As he tried, the voice came back.
"OOOOOH!"
Groaning, he tapped her on the shoulder. "Do you hear that?"
Her eyes grew wide. "Hear what?" she asked, confused.
"Someone keeps yelling 'oooooh'..." He blushed, realizing how stupid he
probably sounded.
Grinning mischievously, Lyra lowered her voice. "Why would someone be doing
that?" she inquired with mock innocence in her voice.
He stared at the ground.
"Richard Umino!" she playfully scolded. "Are you trying to take advantage of
me?"
He didn't say anything, but the blush on his face was unmistakable.
She smiled and leaned against him. "That's so..."
"OOOOH!" The voice cut her off.
"I heard it this time," she told him, anger in her voice. Turning around, she
continued, "And I know the voice, too."
"Shit! Run, Purple, run!" the voice said.
Lyra groaned as she saw someone with meatball-style hair stand try to run from
the theater, dragging a little girl...a girl with a bow...with her.
And that was when the movie shut off.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"That was great food, Michelle," Terrence said warmly, wiping a bit of wine
off his goatee.
She smiled. "What year was that wine, though? It has to be the best I've
tasted in my life!"
Alexandra nodded in agreement. "It was good."
Sipping deliberately at her water, Susan sighed and changed the subject. "How
about some of Brian's great-looking pie?" she asked.
He groaned. "No... Not that!"
Hannah laughed. "Yes, THAT. I'll serve it." She stood and placed her napkin on
the table. "Who wants it with ice cream?" she inquired of the group.
"I will," Haley smiled from her spot next to Alex. "LOTS of ice cream."
The Guardian of Time considered this. "How about sauerkraut?" she requested.
Everyone stared at her. "Sauerkraut?" repeated Terrence.
"As in the nasty German stuff?" Alexandra questioned her.
Susan nodded. "Yeah."
Brian raised an eyebrow. "On apple pie?"
"Yeah," she smiled. "It sounds really good!"
Terrence stood up. "Sets, can I please talk to you outside?" he asked, looking
down at her with concerned green eyes.
Her smile quickly turned into a frown as soon as her words hit her. He still
didn't know... At all...
"Yeah..." She walked to the back door, Terrence following.
Alexandra and Michelle glanced at one another nervously, and Hannah went off
to get the pie in silence.
Suddenly, Haley jumped a mile into the air and stuck a hand into her pocket.
"Shit! Locket alert!"
Brian raised an eyebrow as the brown-haired girl ran out of the dining room.
"Locket alert?" he asked the couple.
Michelle played with her napkin, and Alexandra furrowed her brow in silence.
"Okay, guys, I know I'm not a part of this family, and that's perfectly fine
with me," he told them. "But every time the Sailor Scouts come up in this house,
everybody gets real jumpy and changes the subject on me." He looked at Alexandra.
"Alex, you usually are the first to respond to it. Three times at dinner..." He
sighed. "And you all wear these weird beads..."
Michelle sighed. "We're Planet Mistresses, Brian," she softly said, playing
with her bracelet. "Hannah, Susan, Alexandra and me..."
"Saturn, Pluto, Uranus, Neptune," sighed Alex. "And Haley's a Sailor Scout."
Brian gulped. "So it is true. They really are just normal people, like
everyone says..."
Hannah came up behind him and put her arms around his neck. "And you're dating
one," she smiled.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Come out, Sailor Saps!" called Greed from her place at the front of the
theater. "I'm got an enormous urge to beat you to death and dispose of your
bodies..."
Suddenly, a Sailor Scout appeared in front of her, basking in a golden glow.
"I am Sailor Polaris, shielded by the light of the North Star." Crossing her arms,
she smiled. "And you're star dust."
Death, who was still trembling inwardly, lowered his eyes. "Wind."
A tornado began spinning in front of the Scout. She jumped out of the way, but
she still couldn't completely avoid it...
Until a purple rose flew and hit Death in the arm.
"Out in the galaxy, there are stars," came a male voice.
"And nebulae!" came a young girl's voice.
"We protect those galactic powers!" the man called as a light erupted from the
ceiling, illuminating the room.
The man was wearing his tuxedo and ballroom mask. "I am the Starlit Prince!"
And clinging to his legs was a little blonde girl with a yellow and purple
Sailor fuku. "And I'm Sailor Chibi-Star!" she announced, grimacing at the female
Raider. "We don't like you, but we'll fight you!"
"Well put," Greed told the girl. "But are you prepared for those to be the
last words you ever say?"
"Greed..." Death warned, putting pressure on the puncture wound he had gained.
"Don't fight today..."
She made a face at him. "You glory hog!" she yelled, brandishing her sword.
"I'm going to beat the Scouts, once and for all!"
He glared at her. "Greed..."
Sailor Polaris and the Starlit Prince looked at one another. "What do we do?"
asked the older Scout, raising her eyebrows high.
"Chibi-Star?" he asked the trembling little girl.
She shook her blonde pigtails. "Not Greed..." she whispered.
A voice from the back of the room chimed in. "You can do it, Sailors! I'm
here!"
Polaris grinned upon recognizing Sailor Moon's voice. "Come on, Sailor
Chibi-Star! Help me out!"
The little one nodded and stepped out from behind the Prince's cape. "Small
Star..." she voiced, staring straight at Greed with a vengeful glare.
Death's black eyes flashed in fear as the child set up her attack. With the
wound...with the pain he was feeling, an infinite number of counter-spells would not
successfully block the attack, let alone the one he could possibly manage. And he
was a sorcerer... she was not.
Closing her eyes, Sailor Polaris focused all her energy on the Raider.
"Starry Sky..."
The dark-haired woman gulped and looked at the Starlit Prince. "Die!" she
called, stabbing at him with the sword.
He tried to dodge it, but didn't make it fast enough and got hit in the arm
with the sword.
Something inside of Chibi-Star snapped in seeing him get hurt. "SHATTER!" she
yelled, tears running down her cheeks as she saw her friend get hurt.
"SMASH!" called Polaris, still concentrating on the young Raider.
Razor sharp, golden glass rained down.
And giant ball of stardust collected on the ceiling, readying itself to fall.
Greed looked up and saw what was coming. A tear ran down her face. "I love
you, Death!" she screamed as the ball hit her.
He resisted the urge to call out to her and faded away in a flash of black.
Sailor Moon emerged from her spot at the back of the theater with a slight
smile. "Good job, you three," she proudly said to them. "I'm impressed."
The Starlit Prince staggered to his feet and looked at the rapidly
disintegrating body of the Raider. "You did very well. And, you saved my life."
"Two for two," beamed Moon, smoothing her blue skirt. "Good."
"I must go now," the Prince said, pulling a rose out and handing it to Sailor
Chibi-Star. "This cut's pretty bad." He walked out the exit, clutching his arm all
the while.
"Poor guy," observed Polaris with a sigh. She then turned to Sailor Moon.
"Now, would you like to explain what you were doing here?"
Moon blushed and fingered a pink pigtail. "Well, I meant it innocently
enough..." she sighed nervously.
Placing her purple rose behind her ear, Sailor Chibi-Star left the Scouts to
argue.
"Maybe," she said to herself, "it's better like this."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Susan looked at the moon sparkling over Crystal Tokyo. Though the Palace was
halfway across the city, it sparkled with a powerful magnificence that made tears
come to her eyes.
"Sets," Terrence softly said, "for the past month, you've been getting sick,
eating minimally, abstaining from all alcohol-including vintage red wine, which you
adore-and craving things you hate..."
"Like sauerkraut, eggplant, and pickled beats," she sighed, completely sober.
He nodded. "And, not to be rude, but you've gained weight."
Idly stroking her stomach, the Guardian of Time took off her glasses. "What
I'm about to say is going to change a lot of things, Terry. I know that, and that's
why I've been avoiding it..." she trailed off and wiped a tear from her cheek. "But
this won't be easy."
He smiled sadly and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Whatever you have to
tell me, please do..." He looked at her with concern and love in his green eyes.
"Oh, Sets, you mean the world to me, dear one. I don't say it, but I do love you..."
"Terrence," she attempted, swallowing, "don't make this harder for me than it
already is."
He sighed and kissed the top of her head. "No matter what, Susan, I'll still
be by your side."
She looked to the sky last time. "Terrence, I... no, WE'RE... pregnant."
Taking a deep breath, he nervously ran a hand through his brown hair. "Is that
all?" he sarcastically asked. "And I thought that it was a big deal."
"Oh, please don't kid, Terry... this is serious!" she told him, knotting her
brow. "I'm scared!" Another tear ran down her face. "I don't know how to become a
parent!"
He nodded. "And neither do I. But, no matter what, dear one, I'm here for
you."
Susan sighed. "I could not ask for more."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"You leave and I stay?" Phoebe asked, staring at her parents in shock. "So
that's how it's going to work? You're going to abandon me?"
Amy sighed deeply. "It's not like that," she told the girl. "We'll use
teleportation to visit regularly, and with Orb here, I'm sure you'll be fine."
"I need you!" she protested. "I want to go with you! I'm a Scout now, but I
don't know how to be a Scout! You've got to be here for me!" Tears ran down her
cheeks. "Don't leave!"
"My whole life, I lived in the shadows of people who were better than I.
Instead of living to be me, I swam for everyone else." She looked into the ice blue
eyes of one girl. One child. One daughter who would always wonder if her mother did
the right thing. "Phoebe," she choked, "swim for yourself this time. Do this on your
own, and all the world will follow."
Greg nodded, standing slowly. "And, someday in the future, people will
remember Phoebe Solaria Urawa... Not for being a follower, but swimming in her own
sea."
She wiped away tears. "But... Mom, Dad..."
The doctor smiled. "Hey, Orb," she called to the orange cat who was sitting on
the kitchen counter. "Take good care of her for us."
The cat nodded.
"We'll visit next week, dear... Promise..." were the last words Amy said
before she and Greg disappeared in a flash of sparkling blue light.
It was upon those words that Phoebe crumpled to the floor, sobbing.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Bye, Brian!" called Hannah, waving. "See you tomorrow!"
Driving away, the young man blew her a kiss.
Hannah walked inside and looked at her mothers with a grin.
"That went well," observed Alexandra, clad in sweatpants and a T-shirt.
"Except for that entire thing about mistaking me for a male."
Laughing, Michelle put away her violin. "I think we should do this more
often." She smiled. "I like that Brian boy, Hannah."
The young woman flushed. "Don't give me the 'time to settle down' speech,
Mom," she protested. "I really am not ready for it."
"I wasn't going to," Michelle calmly told her daughter. "I was just going to
say I like him."
The blonde woman nodded. "And apple pie flambé isn't too bad, you know," she
laughed.
Slowly, softly, Susan walked into the living room and rested a hand on her
stomach. "He still cares about me," she told them with a sigh.
"What?" asked Michelle, raising an eyebrow.
"We've decided to hold off on all actions beyond telling Serenity and
Endymion, but we're still going to date," she stated quietly, laying on the couch.
"And I finally was able to smile about the baby..."
The aquamarine haired woman grinned wistfully at Alex. "A baby..." she cooed.
"Do you want a baby or what?" Alex snapped, confusion covering her face.
"Pick an opinion and stick with it!"
Just then, there was an orange and silver flash of light and Sailor Comet
appeared in the Ten'ou household's living room. "Damn, I hate it when stuff like
this happens!" she muttered, pulling her locket away from the orange bow and
untransforming.
"What's wrong?" Michelle's green eyes were dark with worry.
Haley shook her head. "The theater was empty except for a rather nasty pile of
moon dust," she grumbled, throwing herself onto a chair. "Never again do I ditch a
family dinner in order to answer a locket alert." She sighed deeply and rubbed her
temples. "So, what'd I miss?"
"Brian knows about us," Alexandra responded. "He's one quick kid."
"And Terrence knows about the baby, but still wants to date me," Susan said to
her niece.
Haley smiled. "Well, that's good, I guess."
"Guess?" repeated Hannah.
"Well, I would have LOVED to see Terrence's face," she grinned.
And she was promptly beamed by a sofa pillow.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The moon shone down on the indoor pool as Phoebe finished her fourth lap in
the cool, clear water. Sighing deeply, she dove deep under the water one last time,
letting it wash over her hair and face like a warm spring breeze.
Coming slowly to the surface, she looked through the skylight and at the
twinkling stars that shone down on her. It really was a wonderful world to live in.
"Miss," a voice came from the doorway. "Miss, the pool's closing in five
minutes."
She smiled and looked at the janitor. He was a gray-haired, elderly man with
sparkling brown eyes. "Thanks," she called to him, climbing out of the pool.
He smiled back at her. "Rumor has it that the Mistress of Mercury used to swim
at this very pool," he volunteered. "And, if I didn't know better, I'd say you could
pass as her."
She blushed a bit. "Thank you. That's a very kind thing to say." Grabbing her
red towel, she cocked her head at the man. "Do you happen to know why the Mistress
used to swim here?"
He shrugged thoughtfully. "Some people say that she and the Mistress Neptune
had an on-going race. But, some people-me included, tell it different." He leaned
against his broom. "She wanted to be something beyond expectations, and maybe-just
maybe-swimming was her escape." Turning, he started walking away.
Phoebe stopped him. "Sir!" she called. "Sir, I don't know who you are, but
thank you."
Turning around, he cocked his head at her. "Now, why do you say that?"
"My parents just moved away, and so now I'm living alone," she explained, her
grin turning a bit sad. "And you just... Well, whatever you said just felt extremely
right, sir." Phoebe grabbed her bag. "Mistress Mercury once said that she 'swam for
everyone else'..." The teen wrung some water out of her hair. "I just realized that,
for the first time, I swam for me."
"Good for you," the janitor smiled, nodding in approval. He walked Phoebe to
the door in silence, with nothing more than a unique smile on his wrinkled face.
As Phoebe left, he looked at her, more thoughtfully this time. "Hey, kid," he
called after her.
She looked at him, ice blue eyes sparkling.
"I knew from the moment I saw you that you were Amy's girl," he told her.
"Don't ever lose hope. It's out there."
Phoebe smiled knowingly at him, and then started home.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Galactic Sailors... NO! PHOEBE... Says
Phoebe: Today, I went through my fair share of troubles. But I learned a whole lot
about myself. Things that, for some reason, no one else understood.
Haley: (entering) That's great, but can we PLEASE mention the fact that I had a very
amusing dinner party at my house?
Phoebe: (whining) But TODAY'S episode was supposed to focus on me and my personal
problems! Did we all forget that?
Haley: (stick out her tongue) Well, how many people are going remember your swimming
obsession instead of remembering my funny words to our close friend Brian?
Tara: (entering) What about my desperate lack of screen time? Come on, people! Even
Serenity got more fame!
Reeny: (entering and nodding emphatically) Yeah! And there was some major-and
patented, may I add-Butler Plot Underdevelopment in that whole me and Tara thing.
Phoebe: (rolls eyes) Whatever.
Ken: (entering) Come on, people. Richard's mother, who was minor character
throughout the original run of Sailor Moon, got more lines in one scene than I did
in my whole appearance...
Orb: (entering) Which included one scene. Thank you.
Artemis: (entering) Yeah? Well this is my first line in this story. Period.
(All others groan in defeat)
Melvin: (entering) Roll credits.
-I Know-
Look around...
(Tara, sitting next to Queen Serenity, stares up at the night sky)
So many things aren't clear...
(Phoebe looks blankly at a math book)
Don't worry, though...
(Lyra smiles while picking up her tuba)
You know that I'll be there...
(Sailor Pluto and Haley smile knowingly at each other)
A lot of things are so uncertain...
(Alice looks sadly at a clock while the sun sets over Crystal Tokyo)
The future's on its way...
(Reeny holds the Locket of the Moon, smiling)
Look at my crying eyes...
(Luna and Artemis console an upset Diana)
Don't take your love away!
(Hannah sighs, looking at a sleeping Haley)
Sometimes, the road looks long...
(Mina looks at her children with Andrew behind her)
And sometimes, the world seems wrong...
(Alex and Michelle smile at one another and then blush deeply)
But I know, I know, all you need is love.
(The six girls, untransformed, hold their lockets high)
Sometimes, you feel weak...
(Lita smoothes the hair of a crying Alice)
And sometimes, the future looks bleak...
(Raye and Chad stand behind Tara, who is staring at her locket)
But I know, I know, all you need is love.
(The six Galactic Sailors stand in a half circle)
Times will change...
(Amy looks out of a window and at Crystal Palace)
People will change, too...
(Endymion looks at Serenity, who is pouring over a book)
But deep inside...
(Lyra hugs Celeste)
I always will love you...
(Diana falls asleep on Reeny's lap)
I suppose there are questions now...
(Alice and Phoebe stare blankly at one another)
The answers are so far...
(Michelle stands in front of the orchestra, talking)
But look at me and smile now...
(Tara lovingly hugs her father)
I am your guiding star!
(Haley smiles at a studying Hannah)
Sometimes, the road looks long...
(Mina looks at her children with Andrew behind her)
And sometimes, the world seems wrong...
(Alex and Michelle smile at one another and then blush deeply)
But I know, I know, all you need is love.
(The six girls, untransformed, hold their lockets high)
Sometimes, you feel weak...
(Lita smoothes the hair of a crying Alice)
And sometimes, the future looks bleak...
(Raye and Chad stand behind Tara, who is staring at her locket)
But I know, I know, all you need is love.
(The six Galactic Sailors stand in a half circle)
I know...
(The Planet Mistresses stand in a circle)
I know...
(The Galactic Sailors stand in a circle)
All you need is love...
(The Mistresses and Sailors all stand together, holding hands, with their eyes
closed)
All you need...is...love...
(A single purple rose sits in a vase)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
We would like to thank Thanksgiving, for allowing us enough time off of school to
sit around, finish this, and draw up numerous plots-both for this and next (that's
right...NEXT) season. We hope you have enjoyed this wonderful walk through the world
of the Galactic Sailors.
Your over-active, homework-hating divas,
-Kate and Christina
"Heroes get remembered, but legends never die." -The Sandlot
