Story of the Future
Episode Five
"Problems"
"Ariana..." a low voice called out. "Ariana..."
Ariana peered into the darkness. She saw a dim light in the distance. "I'm coming...who are you?"
"Ariana..." the voice echoed on.
Ariana tried to run, but her feet wouldn't move. "I can't find you!" she called out in the darkness.
"Ariana!" a little boy screeched out. "Ariana come back! Don't leave me!"
Ariana woke with a start. She panted at the recurrinng dream. [[What could it mean?]]
She glanced around her apartment. She was in Crystal Tokyo, she could see the palace from her window. There was a nagging thought in the back of her mind as the glanced at the palace. But she couldn't focus on it. She sighed and went back to sleep.
[[Maybe one day I'll know.]] she thought.
***
Serena walked around their apartment. "Darien, do you know where I might get some pickles?" she called out.
Darien went out to meet his pregnant wife. "I put them in the lower part of the fridge." he said, trying to knot his tie.
Serena gave him a small glare. "And you think I'm able to bend down there anymore?"
Darien laughed and went to get her a pickle. "Anything to appease my dear wife's appetite." he said as he handed her a juicy green pickle.
She devoured it quickly, and slid on her maternity evening gown. They were going to a fancy restaurant, and she didn't want to embarrass herself by asking for pickles.
"Have you given any thought to the baby's name?" she asked Darien.
"Why Rini, of course." Darien said, surprised.
"No, muffin, I meant her real name. I always assumed we called her Rini as a nickname." Serena said.
Darien thought a moment. "Serenity. After you and your mother."
"Oh, of course!" Serena said, and giggled. "I hadn't even thought about it."
Darien smiled and went into the bedroom. "No, what I'm worried about is RAISING the child. After all, remember when she came to us. She has to be exactly like that, or we could seriously screw up time."
Serena smiled at her husband and zipped up her dress. "Don't worry, Darien. We'll do fine. After all, it's destiny."
Darien didn't look convinced. "I don't know. Sometimes I wish we could just go to Sailor Pluto and ask her what the heck to do."
Serena pulled her husband into a big hug. "Don't worry dear. We have four months."
Darien smiled and they left the apartment. Unbeknowst to them, there was a shadow watching them.
The shadow followed them to the restaurant. It waited patiently outside. A few hours later, it followed the happy couple home. As the entered the buidling, the shadow slipped behind the bushes.
Sorcia made a note. "Next time I follow Sailor Socut suspects, I'll bring a book." She settled down behind the bushes and nodded off.
***
Lita took a deep breath. She smoothed her hair, and inspected her makeup. Amy had arranged for her and Andrew to meet tonight. And she wanted to look her best.
She had cooked Andrew's favorite dish. She had cleaned up the apartment. She was wearing her best dress. But she was still anxious something would go wrong.
Lita's mind drifted to the bottle of vodka in the fridge. [[Maybe one drink will calm my nerves,]] she thought and went to the fridge. She opened the bottle and took a small sip. Encouraged, she took a big gulp, and recaped the bottle.
[[Okay, I'm ready]] she thought.
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.Lita took a big breath, and went to the door.
"Hello, Lita." Andrew said. He was wearing a suit and looked very nervous.
Lita smiled. "Andrew, come in." He entered the apartment, obviously uncomfortable.
"How are you?" she asked him, trying to make light conversation.
Andrew nodded. "Doing fine."
"Um, I made dinner. We can eat, and then talk." she said. Andrew nodded and sat at the table.
They ate silently. Lita could feel the tension in the air, and wanted so badly to relieve it. Finally after a silent meal she pulled out some chilled wine. "WOuld you care for a glass?"
Andrew finally perked up. "Sure. Red wine. My favorite."
Lita poured two glasses for them. They began to talk.
"Andrew, I wish you would come home. It's been three months." Lita finally got up the courage to say.
Andrew's face tensed. "Lita, I do want to come home. But we have so many problems..."
"We can work them out. I promise I'll try. Please, let's at least try." Lita persisted.
As they continued to talk, the wine bottle got more and more empty. Soon, the bottle was done with and the vodka bottle had been pulled out.
"Lita, you put your responsibilites ahead of me. I don't know how I can deal with that." Andrew said after he had a shot of vodka.
"Andrew, my Sailor Scout responsibilites always come first. It is my duty to protect the Queen." Lita said seriously.
Andrew looked down. "I know that. But you put so much more ahead of me. Your responsibilities on Jupiter, your business as a cook, your pregnancy...I never saw you."
Lita took his hand. "I'm sorry. I had no idea you felt so neglected."
Later, the vodka bottle was in danger of being empty. Lita and Andrew were now talking about their lives since he had left.
"Then, I met this girl..." Andrew slurred slightly.
Lita giggled uncontrollably. "You know what's a funny word? Fork!" she said, interrupting.
Andrew laughed hard. "Fork! Ha ha!" he said.
Lita smiled drunkenly. "Andrew, I missed you."
"I missed you too..." he said slowly.
Without thinking, Lita kissed Andrew very passionately. He responded drunkenly.
As their lips parted, Lita sighed heavily. She moved her arms around Andrew and hugged him tightly. "Don't you think we could...reconsile our differences?"
Without giving a response, Andrew quickly kissed Lita. They began to kiss passionately, needing each other so badly.
"Andrew..." Lita whispered.
***
Amy knocked slowly on the door. It was noon, and she hadn't heard one word from either Lita or Andrew how last night went. She had decided to go over to Lita's finally and ask about it herself. Though, she was a little hesitant at barging in on her friend's personal life.
A few minutes later, the door opened. Andrew stood there with shaggy hair and a pale complexion. His eyes were dark and hollow. He looked like death warmed over.
"Andrew! What happened?" Amy asked shocked.
Andrew groaned as he put his hand to his head. "Nothing to worry about, just a hangover. I'm afraid Lita and I both had too much last night."
Amy grew very quiet. She cautiously entered the apartment and looked around. Other than the dining room, the place was spotless. But the dinning roomhad a wine bottle and a vodka bottle on the table. The nice table cloth Lita used for special occasions layed in a heap on the floor. The chairs were both laying on the ground. The table was a mess, with spilt liquor drying on it, as well as glass thrown over it half-hazardly.
"Where's Lita?" she asked Andrew.
"Still sleeping." Andrew replied, going into the kitchen for the aspirin. Amy followed.
Amy stopped in the kitchen. "Have you two worked it out?' she asked timidly, not wanting to push him.
Andrew smiled privately to himself, but it did not go unnoticed by Amy. "In a certain sense." he said, taking three aspirin.
Amy quickly put the pieces together and grew very embarrassed. She blushed. "Oh, I see." she said, wanting to melt into the floor.
At that moment, Lita emerged in her nightgown. "Andrew?" she said groggily.
Andrew glanced over at his wife. "Amy's here."
Lita squinted at her. She quickly put one hand to her head and the other to her stomach. "Hi, Amy." she said slowly. and turned a pale shade of green.
Amy knew what was coming. Being used to this sort of thing from the hopsital, she grabbed the nearest trashcan and held it over to Lita, who promptly lost her lunch in it.
Andrew remained in a stupor as all this happened. He was feeling so hot himself, and it wasn't just from the alcohol. Lita and he may have been able to get along that night, but it didn't fix a mess of problems that had been at the beginning of their marriage.
Lita recovered. "Oh, god, I'm sorry Amy." she said.
Amy nodded. "It's okay, but Lita, don't you think you should lay off of the liquor for a while?"
Lita shrugged. "Nothing to worry about, Ames. I'll stop for awhile if you want me to."
Amy quickly nodded. Then she went over to Andrew. "I think you two have some issues you need to discuss. I'll leave you." she whispered and said goodbye.
Andrew felt really uncomfortable. "Uh, Lita, I don't think I should move in yet." he finally said.
Lita looked up at him. "Why not?"
"Because we haven't worked out any of our problems yet." he said.
Lita was shocked. They had a wonderful night last night, but now she came crashing back to reality. He was right, they still had problems.
[[I need a drink.]] she thought automatically. She went to the fridge and pulled out a beer.
"Are you drinking this early in the morning?" Andrew asked surprised.
Lita glared at him. "Look, Andrew, this is kind of a shock to me. I'll drink what I want when I want, thank you." she snapped, and opened the can. She took a gulp.
Andrew grew silent. Yes there were definitely some problems here. "Lita," he said finally. "I think we should see a marriage counselor before I move back in."
Lita thought it over as she took another gulp of beer. Then she said, "Alright. I agree."
Andrew smiled. At least she was willing to ask for help to fix the problems.
***
"A marriage counselor? Whoa!" Ariana said to Lita.
Lita nodded. "Yup. Apparently he thinks we have too many problems. Of course he didn't think that last night."
Ariana decided not to press the issue. She handed Lita another shot of whiskey. "So, did you hear the king and queen have decided to name their baby Serenity?"
Lita smiled at how proud Serena and Darien must be. They were finally going to have little Rini. She hadn't called them yet, but figured she would in the next day or two. "That's nice." she said genuinely.
Ariana nodded. Most people already knew that, but she always took a special interest in the lives of the king and queen. She felt a special bond to them.
Lita drank her shot. "Whew! Getting a nice buzz tonight." she said mostly to herself.
Suddenly, an image overtook Ariana's mind...
A brunette ran over to her. "Hey Ariana, I just found my dad's wine cellar. Let's go see it!"
Ariana smiled back. "Okay!"
The two girls ran to the cellar. The small brunette put a finger to her mouth to quiet her best friend. They snuck down the steps.
Bottles and bottles surrounded the girls. They giggled and began running between the rows. "Tag, you're it!" Ariana called out.
The girls played a severe game of tag. Ariana climbed onto the bottles to prevent from being it. The brunette tried to follow her.
As the brown haired tom-boy climbed higher, she lost her footing. "Ariana!" she cried out.
Ariana turned and saw her friend falling. "Lita!" she held out a hand to her friend. Instinct took over as she shouted, "Gravity Shield!!!"
Instantly, Lita was softly falling to the ground. She landed gently on the floor, sitting like a small kitten.
The gravity shield had worked on Lita, but not on the bottles she had upset. The cases began tumbling, bottle after bottle. The row crashed and broke unto the floor.
Ariana quickly jumped down. "Are you okay?" she asked Lita.
Lita nodded. Then she saw the mess of bottles. "Oh no, dad's gonna kill me!" she cried out
At that moment, her mother appeared in the doorway. "Lita! Ariana! What have you done?!" she asked shocked.
Ariana looked sheepishly at the queen of Jupiter. "Sorry..." she said quietly.
Instantly, Lita and Arinana found themselves in front of her. "Girls! Is this any way to behave? Lita, you must be punished. Ariana, I will inform your mother of the incident and let her handle it."
Lita looked frightened. "Mother?" she asked quietly.
"Enough, Lita. You disobeyed your father's rule, you must be punished for it." the queen said. Suddenly a ball of lightning appeared at her hand. "Let the punishment fit the crime. Lita, for entering the wine cellar and breaking your father's priceless bottles, you will become dependent on the drink. The denpendency will not cease until you have drunk every bottle you broke." Her mother said.
The lightning bolt hit Lita and she absorbed it with no pain. She was immuned to Jupiter's power, being the princess. But the curse her mother had bestowed on her would always live on.
Later, she and Ariana talked. "How are you going to not be dependent?" Ariana asked.
Lita smiled mischievously. "I just won't start. I can't become depndent on something if I never start."
Ariana laughed. "That's right! Just don't drink...ever!"
Ariana returned to reality. She saw Lita, drinking another shot. [[Could she be the one from my vision? Where were we? Did we know each other as children? Were we best friends in another lifetime?]] she wondered silently. [[Why am I getting all these thoughts now?]] she asked herself.
[pic]
Episode Five
"Problems"
"Ariana..." a low voice called out. "Ariana..."
Ariana peered into the darkness. She saw a dim light in the distance. "I'm coming...who are you?"
"Ariana..." the voice echoed on.
Ariana tried to run, but her feet wouldn't move. "I can't find you!" she called out in the darkness.
"Ariana!" a little boy screeched out. "Ariana come back! Don't leave me!"
Ariana woke with a start. She panted at the recurrinng dream. [[What could it mean?]]
She glanced around her apartment. She was in Crystal Tokyo, she could see the palace from her window. There was a nagging thought in the back of her mind as the glanced at the palace. But she couldn't focus on it. She sighed and went back to sleep.
[[Maybe one day I'll know.]] she thought.
***
Serena walked around their apartment. "Darien, do you know where I might get some pickles?" she called out.
Darien went out to meet his pregnant wife. "I put them in the lower part of the fridge." he said, trying to knot his tie.
Serena gave him a small glare. "And you think I'm able to bend down there anymore?"
Darien laughed and went to get her a pickle. "Anything to appease my dear wife's appetite." he said as he handed her a juicy green pickle.
She devoured it quickly, and slid on her maternity evening gown. They were going to a fancy restaurant, and she didn't want to embarrass herself by asking for pickles.
"Have you given any thought to the baby's name?" she asked Darien.
"Why Rini, of course." Darien said, surprised.
"No, muffin, I meant her real name. I always assumed we called her Rini as a nickname." Serena said.
Darien thought a moment. "Serenity. After you and your mother."
"Oh, of course!" Serena said, and giggled. "I hadn't even thought about it."
Darien smiled and went into the bedroom. "No, what I'm worried about is RAISING the child. After all, remember when she came to us. She has to be exactly like that, or we could seriously screw up time."
Serena smiled at her husband and zipped up her dress. "Don't worry, Darien. We'll do fine. After all, it's destiny."
Darien didn't look convinced. "I don't know. Sometimes I wish we could just go to Sailor Pluto and ask her what the heck to do."
Serena pulled her husband into a big hug. "Don't worry dear. We have four months."
Darien smiled and they left the apartment. Unbeknowst to them, there was a shadow watching them.
The shadow followed them to the restaurant. It waited patiently outside. A few hours later, it followed the happy couple home. As the entered the buidling, the shadow slipped behind the bushes.
Sorcia made a note. "Next time I follow Sailor Socut suspects, I'll bring a book." She settled down behind the bushes and nodded off.
***
Lita took a deep breath. She smoothed her hair, and inspected her makeup. Amy had arranged for her and Andrew to meet tonight. And she wanted to look her best.
She had cooked Andrew's favorite dish. She had cleaned up the apartment. She was wearing her best dress. But she was still anxious something would go wrong.
Lita's mind drifted to the bottle of vodka in the fridge. [[Maybe one drink will calm my nerves,]] she thought and went to the fridge. She opened the bottle and took a small sip. Encouraged, she took a big gulp, and recaped the bottle.
[[Okay, I'm ready]] she thought.
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.Lita took a big breath, and went to the door.
"Hello, Lita." Andrew said. He was wearing a suit and looked very nervous.
Lita smiled. "Andrew, come in." He entered the apartment, obviously uncomfortable.
"How are you?" she asked him, trying to make light conversation.
Andrew nodded. "Doing fine."
"Um, I made dinner. We can eat, and then talk." she said. Andrew nodded and sat at the table.
They ate silently. Lita could feel the tension in the air, and wanted so badly to relieve it. Finally after a silent meal she pulled out some chilled wine. "WOuld you care for a glass?"
Andrew finally perked up. "Sure. Red wine. My favorite."
Lita poured two glasses for them. They began to talk.
"Andrew, I wish you would come home. It's been three months." Lita finally got up the courage to say.
Andrew's face tensed. "Lita, I do want to come home. But we have so many problems..."
"We can work them out. I promise I'll try. Please, let's at least try." Lita persisted.
As they continued to talk, the wine bottle got more and more empty. Soon, the bottle was done with and the vodka bottle had been pulled out.
"Lita, you put your responsibilites ahead of me. I don't know how I can deal with that." Andrew said after he had a shot of vodka.
"Andrew, my Sailor Scout responsibilites always come first. It is my duty to protect the Queen." Lita said seriously.
Andrew looked down. "I know that. But you put so much more ahead of me. Your responsibilities on Jupiter, your business as a cook, your pregnancy...I never saw you."
Lita took his hand. "I'm sorry. I had no idea you felt so neglected."
Later, the vodka bottle was in danger of being empty. Lita and Andrew were now talking about their lives since he had left.
"Then, I met this girl..." Andrew slurred slightly.
Lita giggled uncontrollably. "You know what's a funny word? Fork!" she said, interrupting.
Andrew laughed hard. "Fork! Ha ha!" he said.
Lita smiled drunkenly. "Andrew, I missed you."
"I missed you too..." he said slowly.
Without thinking, Lita kissed Andrew very passionately. He responded drunkenly.
As their lips parted, Lita sighed heavily. She moved her arms around Andrew and hugged him tightly. "Don't you think we could...reconsile our differences?"
Without giving a response, Andrew quickly kissed Lita. They began to kiss passionately, needing each other so badly.
"Andrew..." Lita whispered.
***
Amy knocked slowly on the door. It was noon, and she hadn't heard one word from either Lita or Andrew how last night went. She had decided to go over to Lita's finally and ask about it herself. Though, she was a little hesitant at barging in on her friend's personal life.
A few minutes later, the door opened. Andrew stood there with shaggy hair and a pale complexion. His eyes were dark and hollow. He looked like death warmed over.
"Andrew! What happened?" Amy asked shocked.
Andrew groaned as he put his hand to his head. "Nothing to worry about, just a hangover. I'm afraid Lita and I both had too much last night."
Amy grew very quiet. She cautiously entered the apartment and looked around. Other than the dining room, the place was spotless. But the dinning roomhad a wine bottle and a vodka bottle on the table. The nice table cloth Lita used for special occasions layed in a heap on the floor. The chairs were both laying on the ground. The table was a mess, with spilt liquor drying on it, as well as glass thrown over it half-hazardly.
"Where's Lita?" she asked Andrew.
"Still sleeping." Andrew replied, going into the kitchen for the aspirin. Amy followed.
Amy stopped in the kitchen. "Have you two worked it out?' she asked timidly, not wanting to push him.
Andrew smiled privately to himself, but it did not go unnoticed by Amy. "In a certain sense." he said, taking three aspirin.
Amy quickly put the pieces together and grew very embarrassed. She blushed. "Oh, I see." she said, wanting to melt into the floor.
At that moment, Lita emerged in her nightgown. "Andrew?" she said groggily.
Andrew glanced over at his wife. "Amy's here."
Lita squinted at her. She quickly put one hand to her head and the other to her stomach. "Hi, Amy." she said slowly. and turned a pale shade of green.
Amy knew what was coming. Being used to this sort of thing from the hopsital, she grabbed the nearest trashcan and held it over to Lita, who promptly lost her lunch in it.
Andrew remained in a stupor as all this happened. He was feeling so hot himself, and it wasn't just from the alcohol. Lita and he may have been able to get along that night, but it didn't fix a mess of problems that had been at the beginning of their marriage.
Lita recovered. "Oh, god, I'm sorry Amy." she said.
Amy nodded. "It's okay, but Lita, don't you think you should lay off of the liquor for a while?"
Lita shrugged. "Nothing to worry about, Ames. I'll stop for awhile if you want me to."
Amy quickly nodded. Then she went over to Andrew. "I think you two have some issues you need to discuss. I'll leave you." she whispered and said goodbye.
Andrew felt really uncomfortable. "Uh, Lita, I don't think I should move in yet." he finally said.
Lita looked up at him. "Why not?"
"Because we haven't worked out any of our problems yet." he said.
Lita was shocked. They had a wonderful night last night, but now she came crashing back to reality. He was right, they still had problems.
[[I need a drink.]] she thought automatically. She went to the fridge and pulled out a beer.
"Are you drinking this early in the morning?" Andrew asked surprised.
Lita glared at him. "Look, Andrew, this is kind of a shock to me. I'll drink what I want when I want, thank you." she snapped, and opened the can. She took a gulp.
Andrew grew silent. Yes there were definitely some problems here. "Lita," he said finally. "I think we should see a marriage counselor before I move back in."
Lita thought it over as she took another gulp of beer. Then she said, "Alright. I agree."
Andrew smiled. At least she was willing to ask for help to fix the problems.
***
"A marriage counselor? Whoa!" Ariana said to Lita.
Lita nodded. "Yup. Apparently he thinks we have too many problems. Of course he didn't think that last night."
Ariana decided not to press the issue. She handed Lita another shot of whiskey. "So, did you hear the king and queen have decided to name their baby Serenity?"
Lita smiled at how proud Serena and Darien must be. They were finally going to have little Rini. She hadn't called them yet, but figured she would in the next day or two. "That's nice." she said genuinely.
Ariana nodded. Most people already knew that, but she always took a special interest in the lives of the king and queen. She felt a special bond to them.
Lita drank her shot. "Whew! Getting a nice buzz tonight." she said mostly to herself.
Suddenly, an image overtook Ariana's mind...
A brunette ran over to her. "Hey Ariana, I just found my dad's wine cellar. Let's go see it!"
Ariana smiled back. "Okay!"
The two girls ran to the cellar. The small brunette put a finger to her mouth to quiet her best friend. They snuck down the steps.
Bottles and bottles surrounded the girls. They giggled and began running between the rows. "Tag, you're it!" Ariana called out.
The girls played a severe game of tag. Ariana climbed onto the bottles to prevent from being it. The brunette tried to follow her.
As the brown haired tom-boy climbed higher, she lost her footing. "Ariana!" she cried out.
Ariana turned and saw her friend falling. "Lita!" she held out a hand to her friend. Instinct took over as she shouted, "Gravity Shield!!!"
Instantly, Lita was softly falling to the ground. She landed gently on the floor, sitting like a small kitten.
The gravity shield had worked on Lita, but not on the bottles she had upset. The cases began tumbling, bottle after bottle. The row crashed and broke unto the floor.
Ariana quickly jumped down. "Are you okay?" she asked Lita.
Lita nodded. Then she saw the mess of bottles. "Oh no, dad's gonna kill me!" she cried out
At that moment, her mother appeared in the doorway. "Lita! Ariana! What have you done?!" she asked shocked.
Ariana looked sheepishly at the queen of Jupiter. "Sorry..." she said quietly.
Instantly, Lita and Arinana found themselves in front of her. "Girls! Is this any way to behave? Lita, you must be punished. Ariana, I will inform your mother of the incident and let her handle it."
Lita looked frightened. "Mother?" she asked quietly.
"Enough, Lita. You disobeyed your father's rule, you must be punished for it." the queen said. Suddenly a ball of lightning appeared at her hand. "Let the punishment fit the crime. Lita, for entering the wine cellar and breaking your father's priceless bottles, you will become dependent on the drink. The denpendency will not cease until you have drunk every bottle you broke." Her mother said.
The lightning bolt hit Lita and she absorbed it with no pain. She was immuned to Jupiter's power, being the princess. But the curse her mother had bestowed on her would always live on.
Later, she and Ariana talked. "How are you going to not be dependent?" Ariana asked.
Lita smiled mischievously. "I just won't start. I can't become depndent on something if I never start."
Ariana laughed. "That's right! Just don't drink...ever!"
Ariana returned to reality. She saw Lita, drinking another shot. [[Could she be the one from my vision? Where were we? Did we know each other as children? Were we best friends in another lifetime?]] she wondered silently. [[Why am I getting all these thoughts now?]] she asked herself.
[pic]