Story of the Future
Episode Seven
"The Meeting"
Raye moaned in her sleep. The dreams were coming again, and they were getting stronger. "Death...death..." she mumbled.
Scott sat next to her, silently observing her. He was concerned for his wife, she'd been getting the same premonitions for months now. They all said death. He hadn't been with the Scouts for very long, but he trusted his wife's instincts.
Raye slowly calmed down. The dream was over..for now. Scott immediately shook her awake. "Raye! Raye, love, wake up."
Raye opened her eyes slowly. "Scott?"
"You were dreaming again. Can you tell me anything new?" he asked her.
Raye forced the sleep out of her eyes. "I saw...a spaceship..the Scouts were on a ship. And transformed....and there was a girl...a new Scout. She was holding...something...I can't remember."
Scott sighed. It was the same thing. The Scouts were on some sort of space ship, and there was the same unknown girl holding an unknown object. "Where do you derive death from that, dearest?" he asked.
"I can feel it in the air. It surrounds us. It's dark...cold..and very frightening." Raye said, shuddering at the memory.
"Raye, I know you don't like thinking about this, but try to remember. Who exactly is in the dream?"
Raye closed her eyes, and envisioned her nightmare. "Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, King Darien, Queen Serenity, me, and the unknown girl." she said finally.
Scott held his wife close to him. "Okay, it's going to be okay. We'll find out what's going on."
Raye closed her eyes. She was glad she'd be going to a Scout meeting tomorrow, they could finally talk about her vision. She had a feeling it was a premonition of what was to come.
Lita slept soundly on the couch. Darien was in his office, going over some business papers. Serena was walking around in the kitchen, looking for a scrap of food. Suddenly, she got a sharp pain in her back.
"Ow!" she cried out, and held onto to the counter for support. The pain passed after a moment. She stood up and regained her composure. [[Only six more weeks...]] she thought as she placed her hand over her grown belly. Then, Rini would be born.
In his study, Darien was reading a report. He couldn't seem to keep his mind on the security of the kingdom's treasury. His mind kept wandering to Serena's comment on his mother. Why was he so defensive of her? He remembered her up to a certain point, but then his memories faded. No matter how much he tried, he could never remember where his mother was when Beryl attacked.
Lita woke to a knock at the door. She quickly got up, her hangover nearly gone, and opened it. She cried out, "Raye!" and hugged her tightly.
Serena heard Lita's cry and waddled as fast as she could to see her friend. Raye shrieked in delight when she saw Serena. "Oh Serena! You look marvelous! You're positively glowing!" The two girls hugged each other as close as Serena's protruding stomach would allow.
"Oh, I've missed you so much, Raye!" Serena said.
Darien heard the commotion and smiled. It had been a long time since his wife had seen all her friends. Since before the pregnancy. He briefly wondered about that, but pushed the thought out of his mind as he saw Raye. "Hey Raye. How's it going?" he asked.
Raye smiled at him. She gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'm doing wonderfully. How about you?" Looking at Serena, she grinned. "Surviving okay?"
Serena stuck her tongue out at Raye. Darien chuckled. "I'm holding up
okay."
Lita smiled. It was going to be good to get the whole gang back together. She sat down with her friends and the two began talking about Raye's trip from Kyoto. Darien looked over and noticed Scott hanging in the doorway.
Scott looked extremely uncomfortable. He still remembered those dark times when he was a part of the Imperium. He had been trying to forget the time when he tried to kill the Scouts. He looked to Darien and smiled slightly.
Darien completely understood his uneasiness, he had felt the same way when he finally got his memories back. He still remembered serving Beryl. But there was a small part of him that never wanted to forget that time. His time with Beryl had been painful and miserable, but a small voice lingered in his mind that told him he was forgetting something. Something important.
"It's okay, Scott, you can join us." Darien said warmly. Serena immediately looked toward the door. Scott shifted uncomfortably, not sure of how to act around Serena. He knew how to act around his queen, but Serena was different.
Serena smiled. "Hello, Scott. How are you?"
Scott nodded. "I'm doing well, you?"
Without another word, Serena gave him a hug. "Guess what! I'm pregnant."
she said, laughing.
Scott was thrown off by her affection, but returned the hug. He smiled genuinely for the first time. "Really? I just thought you were gaining weight all of a
sudden."
Serena playfully slapped him. She laughed and joined her friends. Darien looked at Scott. "Hey, you know they're going to be giggling and gossiping for hours. Why don't we take the guys and go for a bite to eat?" he asked.
Scott nodded.
The doorbell rang. Serena struggled to stand up and immediately got a pain in her lower back. "Ow!" she cried out and stiffened up. She didn't move for awhile. Darien went to her to make sure she was alright, and Lita opened the door.
"MINA!!!" Lita screamed out and gave her a huge hug. Mina laughed joyfully and hugged her friend close to her. It had been so long since she had seen anything of the scouts. Melvin stood behind her.
Darien looked concerned at his wife. She was slightly pale, and obviously in pain. "Meatball-head, you going to be okay?" he asked, taking her hand.
Serena took a deep breath and nodded. "Rini's just being difficult today." she said finally, and he helped her up.
Mina went over and saw Serena for the first time since the wedding. She gasped. "Serena...oh, you look positively..." Mina was at a loss for words. Her queen, leader, and close friend looked absolutely radiant and completely happy. She had no idea where to start to describe her appearance.
Serena waddled over to Mina. "Pregnant. I'm positively pregnant. Now, give me a hug!" she said and the two embraced tightly.
Melvin smiled at Serena. She looked so happy and joyful. He remembered a time long ago where he had thought Serena was the only one for him. But he looked over at Mina and his heart swelled with love for her. Serena had been a childhood crush. But Mina was his true love.
Serena's eyes lit up when she saw Melvin. "Oh, wow! I'll never get over how you look so...un-dorky!" she spoke without thinking. He blushed and gave her a hug. "I hope you are holding up okay." she said. He nodded, and released her.
The girls sat together for fifteen minutes, just happy to be in each other's company again. Sure they had met online several times, but nothing compared to being in each other's presence. The final doorbell was music to Serena's ears. "It's Amy!" she sang out.
Amy didn't even wait to be let in. She had been seeing Serena every three weeks, as her doctor. She was so welcome at their house, she never worried about formality. "Hi Serena, is everyone...." Amy never finished her sentence. She was bombarded by three energetic girls, all shrieking their delight. Amy laughed and hugged them back fiercely. Greg walked in and smiled.
"Hi, Greg!" Serena shouted out. The girls instantly went from Amy to Greg, hugging him too. He laughed at the surprise, but embraced them. Amy took a seat next to Serena.
Finally, after everyone had hugged each other and the men had left the girls to giggle and gossip, Amy called the meeting to order.
"Alright, guys, let's try and get some business done. Then we can do whatever we want." Amy said to the girls, who were all talking at the same time, Serena being the loudest.
The group quieted down and looked to Serena. It still seemed strange to be waiting for information from SERENA, but they all realized that she had matured into a true leader and a wonderful queen.
Serena didn't flinch under the immediate attention. She cleared her throat and began talking. "Okay, there are several matters to discuss. Our main priority is Raye's visions and the possibility of new enemies from the Imperium of darkness. However, we also have a problem in our group..." at this she paused and looked at Lita. "We will address that as well, and find a way to handle it. Third is the status of Venus. Mina tells me there is some government trouble there that needs to be worked out. Fourth is..." Serena slowed down. Her face paled and she put her hand to her stomach. The group immediately grew concerned. Finally, Serena straightened up. "Fourth is discussion of the princess and what is going to be done in preparation for her arrival." Serena said, smiling slightly.
The girls nodded and began talking. Raye discussed her dream, and Scott's illness. The scouts formulated a protection plan for Earth and were told to keep their transformation objects handy. Next came discussion of Mina's planet. Mina requested that Serena come at her convenience and settle the revolting parties. Serena agreed and said she would as soon as the baby was born. All this time, Lita had grown more and more quiet.
"And now, I believe Lita would like to say something." Serena said, silently coaxing her friend.
Lita cleared her throat as all eyes turned to her. She looked at Serena for assurance. It was funny, she had never had trouble talking to them before. But this was different. "For the past six months, I've been going regularly to...a bar in the Juubann sector. I've been drinking heavily for about five months and last night, Serena had to come pick me up because I was too drunk to get home."
Raye and Mina were shocked. Serena held onto Lita's hand and Amy just looked at Lita patiently. "Why? Why have you been doing this?" Raye finally asked.
Lita sighed. "Andrew and I are having marital problems. He moved out a while ago. At the time, I was pregnant. I lost the baby." Lita said, shaking uncontrollably.
Serena put her arm around Lita. "Lita, it's okay. We all want to help you."
Amy finally spoke up. "Lita, I think you may be struggling with alcoholism."
Lita looked up suddenly. She knew that Serena and Amy didn't like her drinking, but she had just figured this was a meeting where they were just informing the others. She had never dreamed that they would confront her! "No...I don't have a problem."
"How often do you drink, Lita? Do you make efforts to hide your drinking? Do you feel that sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to drink? Do you drink to forget your problems?" Amy asked suddenly. Lita just remained silent and stony. "Lita, look at me." Amy commanded. Lita looked up slowly, everyone was silent, awed at Amy's commanding presence. "Do you want a drink right now?"
Lita felt everyone's eyes on her. She had never felt the need to hide anything from her friends. Shame overwhelmed her as she looked at Serena. Finally, she looked the floor and nodded slowly.
Amy sat back. "Lita, you need help. We want to get you that. But the first thing you have to do is admit you have a problem. It's okay, we can get you the help you need. And you know we still love you no matter what."
Tears of shame began to trickle down Lita's face. She had let her friends down, she had disappointed her queen. She had dishonored her planet. She began to sob, and all the girls came around her to hold her. She began telling of all the pain and loneliness she faced night after night. She talked of her misery when she lost the baby, of her depression when she had gotten drunk with Andrew, of her shame that she had a problem. The scouts simply held her close and comforted her.
"It's going to be okay." Serena whispered to her over and over.
[[It's going to be okay.]] Lita's thoughts echoed, and for the first time in months, she felt at peace.
Finally, after all the girls calmed down, they began planning a baby shower for Serena. As they were talking, Serena grew more and more uncomfortable. It seemed the room was closing in on her. The was an increasing weight in her lower abdomen, and she felt like there was a twenty pound brick pressing into her stomach.
Suddenly, a pain sharper than anything she had felt before hit her. "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" she screamed and locked up. The girls gasp and went over to her. Amy was at her side.
Serena felt a wetness suddenly, like her internal organs were gushing out. She tried to take deep breaths, but it was too much pain. She screamed again. She could barely hear Amy's words: "Her water broke!"
Serena was going into labor!
Episode Seven
"The Meeting"
Raye moaned in her sleep. The dreams were coming again, and they were getting stronger. "Death...death..." she mumbled.
Scott sat next to her, silently observing her. He was concerned for his wife, she'd been getting the same premonitions for months now. They all said death. He hadn't been with the Scouts for very long, but he trusted his wife's instincts.
Raye slowly calmed down. The dream was over..for now. Scott immediately shook her awake. "Raye! Raye, love, wake up."
Raye opened her eyes slowly. "Scott?"
"You were dreaming again. Can you tell me anything new?" he asked her.
Raye forced the sleep out of her eyes. "I saw...a spaceship..the Scouts were on a ship. And transformed....and there was a girl...a new Scout. She was holding...something...I can't remember."
Scott sighed. It was the same thing. The Scouts were on some sort of space ship, and there was the same unknown girl holding an unknown object. "Where do you derive death from that, dearest?" he asked.
"I can feel it in the air. It surrounds us. It's dark...cold..and very frightening." Raye said, shuddering at the memory.
"Raye, I know you don't like thinking about this, but try to remember. Who exactly is in the dream?"
Raye closed her eyes, and envisioned her nightmare. "Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, King Darien, Queen Serenity, me, and the unknown girl." she said finally.
Scott held his wife close to him. "Okay, it's going to be okay. We'll find out what's going on."
Raye closed her eyes. She was glad she'd be going to a Scout meeting tomorrow, they could finally talk about her vision. She had a feeling it was a premonition of what was to come.
Lita slept soundly on the couch. Darien was in his office, going over some business papers. Serena was walking around in the kitchen, looking for a scrap of food. Suddenly, she got a sharp pain in her back.
"Ow!" she cried out, and held onto to the counter for support. The pain passed after a moment. She stood up and regained her composure. [[Only six more weeks...]] she thought as she placed her hand over her grown belly. Then, Rini would be born.
In his study, Darien was reading a report. He couldn't seem to keep his mind on the security of the kingdom's treasury. His mind kept wandering to Serena's comment on his mother. Why was he so defensive of her? He remembered her up to a certain point, but then his memories faded. No matter how much he tried, he could never remember where his mother was when Beryl attacked.
Lita woke to a knock at the door. She quickly got up, her hangover nearly gone, and opened it. She cried out, "Raye!" and hugged her tightly.
Serena heard Lita's cry and waddled as fast as she could to see her friend. Raye shrieked in delight when she saw Serena. "Oh Serena! You look marvelous! You're positively glowing!" The two girls hugged each other as close as Serena's protruding stomach would allow.
"Oh, I've missed you so much, Raye!" Serena said.
Darien heard the commotion and smiled. It had been a long time since his wife had seen all her friends. Since before the pregnancy. He briefly wondered about that, but pushed the thought out of his mind as he saw Raye. "Hey Raye. How's it going?" he asked.
Raye smiled at him. She gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'm doing wonderfully. How about you?" Looking at Serena, she grinned. "Surviving okay?"
Serena stuck her tongue out at Raye. Darien chuckled. "I'm holding up
okay."
Lita smiled. It was going to be good to get the whole gang back together. She sat down with her friends and the two began talking about Raye's trip from Kyoto. Darien looked over and noticed Scott hanging in the doorway.
Scott looked extremely uncomfortable. He still remembered those dark times when he was a part of the Imperium. He had been trying to forget the time when he tried to kill the Scouts. He looked to Darien and smiled slightly.
Darien completely understood his uneasiness, he had felt the same way when he finally got his memories back. He still remembered serving Beryl. But there was a small part of him that never wanted to forget that time. His time with Beryl had been painful and miserable, but a small voice lingered in his mind that told him he was forgetting something. Something important.
"It's okay, Scott, you can join us." Darien said warmly. Serena immediately looked toward the door. Scott shifted uncomfortably, not sure of how to act around Serena. He knew how to act around his queen, but Serena was different.
Serena smiled. "Hello, Scott. How are you?"
Scott nodded. "I'm doing well, you?"
Without another word, Serena gave him a hug. "Guess what! I'm pregnant."
she said, laughing.
Scott was thrown off by her affection, but returned the hug. He smiled genuinely for the first time. "Really? I just thought you were gaining weight all of a
sudden."
Serena playfully slapped him. She laughed and joined her friends. Darien looked at Scott. "Hey, you know they're going to be giggling and gossiping for hours. Why don't we take the guys and go for a bite to eat?" he asked.
Scott nodded.
The doorbell rang. Serena struggled to stand up and immediately got a pain in her lower back. "Ow!" she cried out and stiffened up. She didn't move for awhile. Darien went to her to make sure she was alright, and Lita opened the door.
"MINA!!!" Lita screamed out and gave her a huge hug. Mina laughed joyfully and hugged her friend close to her. It had been so long since she had seen anything of the scouts. Melvin stood behind her.
Darien looked concerned at his wife. She was slightly pale, and obviously in pain. "Meatball-head, you going to be okay?" he asked, taking her hand.
Serena took a deep breath and nodded. "Rini's just being difficult today." she said finally, and he helped her up.
Mina went over and saw Serena for the first time since the wedding. She gasped. "Serena...oh, you look positively..." Mina was at a loss for words. Her queen, leader, and close friend looked absolutely radiant and completely happy. She had no idea where to start to describe her appearance.
Serena waddled over to Mina. "Pregnant. I'm positively pregnant. Now, give me a hug!" she said and the two embraced tightly.
Melvin smiled at Serena. She looked so happy and joyful. He remembered a time long ago where he had thought Serena was the only one for him. But he looked over at Mina and his heart swelled with love for her. Serena had been a childhood crush. But Mina was his true love.
Serena's eyes lit up when she saw Melvin. "Oh, wow! I'll never get over how you look so...un-dorky!" she spoke without thinking. He blushed and gave her a hug. "I hope you are holding up okay." she said. He nodded, and released her.
The girls sat together for fifteen minutes, just happy to be in each other's company again. Sure they had met online several times, but nothing compared to being in each other's presence. The final doorbell was music to Serena's ears. "It's Amy!" she sang out.
Amy didn't even wait to be let in. She had been seeing Serena every three weeks, as her doctor. She was so welcome at their house, she never worried about formality. "Hi Serena, is everyone...." Amy never finished her sentence. She was bombarded by three energetic girls, all shrieking their delight. Amy laughed and hugged them back fiercely. Greg walked in and smiled.
"Hi, Greg!" Serena shouted out. The girls instantly went from Amy to Greg, hugging him too. He laughed at the surprise, but embraced them. Amy took a seat next to Serena.
Finally, after everyone had hugged each other and the men had left the girls to giggle and gossip, Amy called the meeting to order.
"Alright, guys, let's try and get some business done. Then we can do whatever we want." Amy said to the girls, who were all talking at the same time, Serena being the loudest.
The group quieted down and looked to Serena. It still seemed strange to be waiting for information from SERENA, but they all realized that she had matured into a true leader and a wonderful queen.
Serena didn't flinch under the immediate attention. She cleared her throat and began talking. "Okay, there are several matters to discuss. Our main priority is Raye's visions and the possibility of new enemies from the Imperium of darkness. However, we also have a problem in our group..." at this she paused and looked at Lita. "We will address that as well, and find a way to handle it. Third is the status of Venus. Mina tells me there is some government trouble there that needs to be worked out. Fourth is..." Serena slowed down. Her face paled and she put her hand to her stomach. The group immediately grew concerned. Finally, Serena straightened up. "Fourth is discussion of the princess and what is going to be done in preparation for her arrival." Serena said, smiling slightly.
The girls nodded and began talking. Raye discussed her dream, and Scott's illness. The scouts formulated a protection plan for Earth and were told to keep their transformation objects handy. Next came discussion of Mina's planet. Mina requested that Serena come at her convenience and settle the revolting parties. Serena agreed and said she would as soon as the baby was born. All this time, Lita had grown more and more quiet.
"And now, I believe Lita would like to say something." Serena said, silently coaxing her friend.
Lita cleared her throat as all eyes turned to her. She looked at Serena for assurance. It was funny, she had never had trouble talking to them before. But this was different. "For the past six months, I've been going regularly to...a bar in the Juubann sector. I've been drinking heavily for about five months and last night, Serena had to come pick me up because I was too drunk to get home."
Raye and Mina were shocked. Serena held onto Lita's hand and Amy just looked at Lita patiently. "Why? Why have you been doing this?" Raye finally asked.
Lita sighed. "Andrew and I are having marital problems. He moved out a while ago. At the time, I was pregnant. I lost the baby." Lita said, shaking uncontrollably.
Serena put her arm around Lita. "Lita, it's okay. We all want to help you."
Amy finally spoke up. "Lita, I think you may be struggling with alcoholism."
Lita looked up suddenly. She knew that Serena and Amy didn't like her drinking, but she had just figured this was a meeting where they were just informing the others. She had never dreamed that they would confront her! "No...I don't have a problem."
"How often do you drink, Lita? Do you make efforts to hide your drinking? Do you feel that sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to drink? Do you drink to forget your problems?" Amy asked suddenly. Lita just remained silent and stony. "Lita, look at me." Amy commanded. Lita looked up slowly, everyone was silent, awed at Amy's commanding presence. "Do you want a drink right now?"
Lita felt everyone's eyes on her. She had never felt the need to hide anything from her friends. Shame overwhelmed her as she looked at Serena. Finally, she looked the floor and nodded slowly.
Amy sat back. "Lita, you need help. We want to get you that. But the first thing you have to do is admit you have a problem. It's okay, we can get you the help you need. And you know we still love you no matter what."
Tears of shame began to trickle down Lita's face. She had let her friends down, she had disappointed her queen. She had dishonored her planet. She began to sob, and all the girls came around her to hold her. She began telling of all the pain and loneliness she faced night after night. She talked of her misery when she lost the baby, of her depression when she had gotten drunk with Andrew, of her shame that she had a problem. The scouts simply held her close and comforted her.
"It's going to be okay." Serena whispered to her over and over.
[[It's going to be okay.]] Lita's thoughts echoed, and for the first time in months, she felt at peace.
Finally, after all the girls calmed down, they began planning a baby shower for Serena. As they were talking, Serena grew more and more uncomfortable. It seemed the room was closing in on her. The was an increasing weight in her lower abdomen, and she felt like there was a twenty pound brick pressing into her stomach.
Suddenly, a pain sharper than anything she had felt before hit her. "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" she screamed and locked up. The girls gasp and went over to her. Amy was at her side.
Serena felt a wetness suddenly, like her internal organs were gushing out. She tried to take deep breaths, but it was too much pain. She screamed again. She could barely hear Amy's words: "Her water broke!"
Serena was going into labor!