Author's Note: Yeah, you know the drill. Seventh verse, same as the first, A little bit louder and a whole lot worse. yada, yada,
yada...
By the way, Artemis and Luna are cats. Artemis is white and male, and Luna is black and female. Please note the spelling of
"Luna".
*****
I love cats. They taste just like chicken.
*****
A delicate, silver tine poked the shivering white mass.
"What do you think it wants?" Lun@ wondered, poking it again with her fork.
"What do you think it is?" Mulder returned, mimicking her movement.
"It appears to be scalloped chicken." Scully prodded the unidentified substance, turning it over and sniffing it delicately.
"Eww..." Mulder groaned. "How do you scallop chicken?"
Lun@ paled. "I thought it was potatoes!" Tapping the stewardess on the shoulder, she summoned up her nerve to answer the
question. "Excuse me, Ma'm?"
"Yes?" came the harried, slightly rude yet overly perky reply.
They exchanged a short, harried dialogue that had overtones of contempt on the stewardesses part and horror on Lun@'s.
Returning to her seat with a grimace, Lun@ pushed her plate away. "Well, I'm not eating it."
Scully asked, "Are you a vegitarian?"
"No, that's not it... it's cauliflower. I'll just eat the biscut and my orange. Either of you have any real food?"
Scully rummaged through her purse. "Gum?"
Mulder, always prepared for a snacking emergency, pulled out his trusty bag of sunflower seeds. Opening it, he leaned the open
end towards Lun@, offering her some.
Accepting a handful, she carefully began the long, tedious process of separating the small meat from the shell. "Thanks."
Mulder offered the bag to his partner with a leer. "Salts for the salty?"
"No thanks, Mulder," Scully told him, "but I'll stick with the Mystery Meat of the Day."
"Dangerous woman," Lun@ muttered, mouth full of her dry, crusty dinner roll.
"You better believe it!" Mulder leered with a wink.
"Willow to save the day!" a cheery face chirped, popping over the middle seat. Holding out a bag, she grinned. "Just in case,
y'know, your's isn't... uh... edible. Actually, my Mom made 'em. One for each of us."
"Thanks, Willow! You're a lifesaver! Blessings upon you and your family and everything you stand for!" Lun@ yelped greedily,
grabbing the bag. Opening the brown-paper sack up, she searched through the contents. "You know, they should sell these at
the terminal. I know I'd buy 'em! Ooo-oo... chocolate..." With a giant grin, she pulled out a chocolate chip bagel and
ceremoniously began to pull it apart, eating the pieces. "I love you."
Willow bobbed her head against the praise. "So, how ya holding up? Wanna, uh, trade seats or anything?"
Lun@ offered her a kind look. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm enjoying the company." Probably more than they're enjoying
me, but they'll live. She handed a bag of chips from her food sack to Mulder. "Real food. Eat."
Willow turned around, smiling a disturbing smile. "Okay... I'll just... see ya later." From the other side, they could hear the
beginning of a new conversation. "So, Xander... thrown up anything good lately?"
Mulder stuffed the chips between his hip and the seat arm and continued to snack on his sunflower seeds. *Gee, Lun@ silently
murmured wryly, can we say "oral fixation"?* She watched the way he rolled the seed around in his mouth, removing the shell
with the air of fine persision that only comes with experience. Then, Lun@ noticed something even more interesting.
Scully had her eyes fixed on his oral fixation.
And was loving it.
*Hm... interesting... Ve-ry interesting...* With a contemplative look on her face, Lun@ slid her headphones over her ears and
began to listen to one of her favorites: Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita.
*****
"Usagi! Stop poking me! And get your stupid face out of my comic book!" A flash of black hair and a twinkle of brown eyes,
and the "Sailor V" comic book disappeared.
"Hey..." the blonde whined, "Rei... I was reading that..."
The two grinned at each other, reminiscing about a time when such fighting would have been orthodox and commonplace. Three
years and about 50 million monsters later, the two found better things to quibble about than silly comic books, maturity, and
boyfriends.
Well, maybe not the comic books part.
Rei gave her friend a hard look of mock scorn. "Usagi, you're such a baby."
The "baby" stuck out her tongue and pulled her bottom eyelid down with a finger in a childish insult. "Dweeb!"
They stared at each other for a moment, eyes blazing, re-igniting old fires and rubbing the proverbial salt into ancient wounds.
And burst into laughter.
"Usagi," Rei giggled, struggling for breath, "You're such a..." she struggled for breath to continue her sentance. "You're so... You
always use the same old insults, don't you!"
"I do not! You're so mean!" the other girl whined. They stopped laughing for a moment to look each other straight in the eye.
And cracked up again.
"Usagi," Ami interrupted, "don't you have a test tomorrow?"
The blonde stopped laughing. "Oh, yeah," she commented without enthusiasm. "You had to remind me."
"Don't worry," Makoto consoled. "I'm sure Ami, my dear, bestest friend, will help you study."
Ami hung her head and let out a sigh. "Yes... I suppose so..." With a depressed look, the naturally blue-haired girl closed her
book and walked away, towards the flower garden. "Excuse me... I'm just going... to take a walk..."
Makoto and Usagi exchanged a guilty look. "Eh... oops."
Minako, sitting in the corner petting her white cat Artemis, shrugged. "Don't worry, you guys, it's not your fault. She's been that
way ever since the Starlights left," she said, referring to a group of guys that had turned into girls to help them in the fight against
their last opponent. "And frankly," she added, "I'm kinda missing them myself."
"You mean you're missing a certain Yaten Kou from the group," Rei interjected slyly.
"Yeah. Gee, how did you ever guess." The sarcasm was lost on the group, however.
"I think it was the way your eyes always lit up when you saw him," Makoto commented.
"And how he was always so nice to you," Usagi agreed.
"And--" Luna started.
"Stop, stop! Alright, I give!" Minako threw her hands up in surrender. "Geez, next thing you know, Artemis will be ganging up
on me, too!"
Artemis winked at Luna. "Well, I did read your diary..."
"ARTEMIS!!!"
"Lotsa juisy blackmail material in there..."
"AHHH!" The blond haired girl jumped up with fury. "I'm gonna kill you!!!"
A sweatdrop appeared on the white cat's head. "My cue to split." He galloped away, narrowly escaping a flying pillow.
"Betcha didn't know that fried cat is a delicacy in China!!!!" Minako screamed, running after him.
Usagi giggled. "Luna, arencha gonna go after them? I mean, you do want to see Artemis again, right?"
Luna smirked. "A little beating now and then wouldn't kill him."
"A-a-a-a-oWWWWWWWWWW!!! Help! She's--hh-oww!!!" There came a strangling noise from outside.
"Get back here, you mangy animal!" There was the sound of something crashing.
"Or," Luna murmured, jumping out the door, "maybe he'll just owe me one."
Usagi giggled some more. "She'll never believe it, but I actually studied today."
"You?" Makoto cried, dubious. "Study? You're kidding, right?"
Usagi shook her head. "Uh-uh. I cracked the books. And I actually knew some of the stuff. No 30%s for me, nuh-uh!"
Makoto jumped up, guilty. "Maybe I should talk to Ami-chan... I don't need to flunk, either... Plus, I think she needs some
cheering up. Don't worry; I'll give her the time of her life... after she helps me study..." With a weak grin to match her weak
excuse, Makoto left Rei's room to find her blue-haired friend.
Usagi lay back and stared at the ceiling for a while, thinking. "Rei..." she said after a while.
"What is it, Dumpling-head?" the raven-haired beauty replied absently. She didn't even have to glance up to know that Usagi
was self-conciously rolling her eyes up towards the two buns nestled on either side of her head.
Usagi fingered the pigtails that trailed out of the buns nervously. "Promise me something..." the girl's voice quivered.
"Promise me... you'll never die again... you won't let anybody, no matter how powerful they are, kill you, or any of the others...
okay?"
"Geez," Rei looked up in gentle impatience, "Do you have spaghetti in your head to match the dumplings in your hair? I can't
promise anything like that--"
"Rei, promise me. I can't... I can't do it again... not knowing... that I could get you all killed... you just... poof! ...gone..."
"Usagi, that wasn't your fault. Besides, we're all alive now, aren't we?"
"Yes, but... I need you to promise that you won't die again. Not while I'm alive. Not now. Just... please... promise..." She
suddenly sat up. "Rei, you're one of my best, closest friends. Please don't leave me again. I can't... I can't--please--"
"Usagi!" Rei interrupted. "Usagi! Don't worry, I'm not gonna die yet. I promise not to die for a long time, okay?" She hugged
her friend hard. "We're gonna be here for you for a while. So just chill, okay?"
"Okay." Usagi sniffled, wiping two large tears from her large blue eyes. "I'll be okay." She hugged her friend hard. Suddenly, her
back straightened rigidly. "What time is it?"
"Uh... Quarter after seven?"
"Ahhh! I'm late! I was supposed to meet Mamo at seven!!" Scooping up her things, she made a mad dash for the door. "Bye!
See ya later! Tell everyone else--Ahh! Down kitty!--that I left and..." her voice trailed off in the distance.
Rei simply shook her head. "She'll never change."
*****
Mamoru looked at his watch. Why was he not surprised that his Usagi was late? With an "Oomph!" he promptly fell over.
"Sorrysorrysorrysorry," the blond girl chanted, as if it were her personal litany. Looking up, her eyes grew wide. "Mamo!" She
threw her arms around her boyfriend and kissed him squarely on the mouth.
"Mm!! Mm..." he sighed happily, kissing her back. "Usako..." Her pet name was almost lost to the both of them. "So," he
continued, after the kiss had ended sweetly, "ready for dinner?
She laughed. "Are you kidding? I'm starved! I could eat... I could eat... well, a lot!"
He groaned good-naturedly, slinging an arm over her shoulder. "You're gonna take a big chunk out of my paycheck again,
aren't ya?"
Laughing, she held the hand hanging over her shoulder. "Mamo, I love you."
*****
"You guys, have any of you talked to Usagi lately about... Galaxia?"
Minako and the other three seriously considered Rei's question. It wasn't a time any of them were really _comfortable_
remembering, as it had been the stuff nightmares were made of, but it was considered upon polite request of another for a
reason. Galaxia had been a powerful enemy who had stolen their star-seeds, the very essense of their souls, and killed them,
right before the horrified Usagi's eyes. Minako shuddered to remember the look of pain that had been on Usagi's face after
Chaos, the evil entity possessing Galaxia, had been defeated. Galaxia had surrendered and disappeared, leaving Usagi
supposedly all alone. In that one, heartbreaking moment, the girl had completely dispaired. Luckily, Galaxia had released all the
star seeds to go inhabit the bodies of their previous owners, allowing the Sailor Warriors to come back to life, back to Usagi.
"No," Minako finally answered for all of them, "Why?"
Rei paced nervously on the packed-down dirt and shot the others, who were sitting on the temple porch, worried glances. "She
and I had a talk today, that's all."
"About what?" asked Makoto, shaking her long, brown ponytail with interest.
Rei stopped her pacing. "She made me promise not to die again. I think that last battle shook her up more than we thought."
"She's still so innocent, even after all those years of fighting," Minako sighed.
"Yes, she takes things so harshly," Ami agreed. "She feels that she has to be an adult, instead of a kid."
"I don't know," Luna said, smoothing her black fur down with her paw, "I think she has come to handle the responsibility quite
well."
"Yeah," Rei snorted, "too well. She's just a scared little rabbit under all that maturity, a scared little rabbit who's forgotten how
to live. She knows how to fight, she knows how to survive, she's still all innocence and love, but... she's terrified of losing
anyone else."
Makoto nodded slowly. "I think... I think she needs some time to realize that we're not going anywhere for a while."
"Exactly. She'll remember that we're going to be by her side for quite some time now," Ami agreed, closing her enormous
blue-gray eyes.
"How do you know?" asked Minako quietly, twirling a strand of golden hair around her finger. "Maybe we're all going to die
tommorow. Rei, how could you make a promise like that?!? You shouldn't make promises that you won't be able to keep!"
Ami shook her head. "No, it's okay. First of all, Usagi knows that Rei just promised to make her feel better. Second of all, does
everyone remember how we went to the future with Chibiusa a long time ago, before she came back to be a Sailor Senshi?"
There was a quorum of nods as they fondly remembered the pink-haired tyke who'd surprised them all by being Usagi's future
daughter. "Well, we were there, in the future, so we should be okay. At least 'till then.",
"I don't know..." Luna commented, looking into the Japanese sky with apprehension. "I think we aren't going to be prepared for
what comes next..."
*****
Haruka and Michiru walked through the park, side by side, holding hands.
"Ruka," murmured the teal-haired beauty also known as Sailor Neptune, "I think we need to talk."
"Yeah, Michiru?" the tomboy whispered back, stopping to hold her lover's hand. "Do you really think that?"
Michiru reached up to touch the other's short, blond hair. "Have I told you how much I love you yet today?" she asked
sensuously, moving her head closer.
"No..." Her head moved closer, also, and both their eyes slowly closed.
"Oh, I hate to interrupt," A voice called out cheerily, "But do mind surrendering your life for us?" A hand grabbed Michiru's hair,
pulling her away from Haruka. "No, I didn't think so."
Haruka's eyes snapped open as her lover was snatched from her arms, expression growing fierce. "Just who do you think you
are, anyway?!" Throwing a hard left jab, she lashed out at the other's offending mouth.
The mouth suddenly changed. The featured rose and wrinked, becoming ugly folds of flesh, and the teeth became horrendously
filled with points.
"Run, 'Ruka!" the frightened girl cried. "Run, go get help!"
Haruka hated to leave her girlfriend. "No! This trash is going down! You're the ugliest one yet!"
Another horrendously scarred face appeared. "Is she the Slayer?" the vampire asked, disgusted. "We shouldn't have wasted our
time crossing the ocean."
"Don't be fooled," the other replied. "She has slain many of our kind."
"I don't know what your kind is," Haruka growled, "and I don't intend to take the time to figure out! URANUS PLANET
POWER, MAKE UP!"
"What?!?"
Michiru elbowed the vampire holding her hair and stood behind Sailor Uranus. "NEPTUNE PLANET POWER, MAKE UP!"
"Heralded by the New Age, I am Sailor Uranus, acting gorgeously!" the one in the dark navy and yellow uniform cried, running
through her usual lines. "And you have just made a big mistake, buddy!"
"The same for me, Sailor Neptune, acting gracefully!" the teal and navy uniformed senshi cried. "And in the name of Neptune--"
"In the name of Uranus--"
"We will punish you!" they both cried together.
"I don't believe this!" the second vampire told the first. "I thought she was a he!!!"
"Nice legs," the first commented.
"I'm glad you like them, because they're going to be the last thing you ever see!" Neptune began her magical attack. "DEEP
SUBMERGE!"
Waters, appearing out of nowhere, grabbed the vampires and hurled them against a nearby tree.
"SPACE SWORD BLASTER!" Sailor Uranus cried, whacking at the vampires with her magical sword.
With little resistance, she cleanly sliced off the second one's head.
"Hey!" The first one cried, to himself. "She's got a sword!"
"So she does," Neptune commented, "So she does." Grabbing her mirror out of her space-pocket, she looked into it.
"Yes, the vampire leered, sweeping a kick at Uranus, "fix your make up!"
"SUBMARINE..." Neptune cried. Suddenly, she twisted her mirror around to face their mentally challanged attacker.
"REFLECTION!" A beam of bright light shot out of the delicate item, blinding and peeling the skin off the vampire's face and
arms.
"Ahhh!" it screamed, stopping in the middle of the hoarse cry to have it's head cut off.
"Well..." Neptune said, detransforming, "This is something new to tell the Princess..."
"Must we really bother her, Michi?" Uranus asked, also de-transforming. "Dumpling-head's really so much happier being a
normal girl..." She trailed off with a sigh, knowning it had to be done.
"Yes, 'Ruka," Michiru told her quietly, putting a hand on her partner's shoulder, sharing her pain. "She is the Princess. She must
fight."
yada...
By the way, Artemis and Luna are cats. Artemis is white and male, and Luna is black and female. Please note the spelling of
"Luna".
*****
I love cats. They taste just like chicken.
*****
A delicate, silver tine poked the shivering white mass.
"What do you think it wants?" Lun@ wondered, poking it again with her fork.
"What do you think it is?" Mulder returned, mimicking her movement.
"It appears to be scalloped chicken." Scully prodded the unidentified substance, turning it over and sniffing it delicately.
"Eww..." Mulder groaned. "How do you scallop chicken?"
Lun@ paled. "I thought it was potatoes!" Tapping the stewardess on the shoulder, she summoned up her nerve to answer the
question. "Excuse me, Ma'm?"
"Yes?" came the harried, slightly rude yet overly perky reply.
They exchanged a short, harried dialogue that had overtones of contempt on the stewardesses part and horror on Lun@'s.
Returning to her seat with a grimace, Lun@ pushed her plate away. "Well, I'm not eating it."
Scully asked, "Are you a vegitarian?"
"No, that's not it... it's cauliflower. I'll just eat the biscut and my orange. Either of you have any real food?"
Scully rummaged through her purse. "Gum?"
Mulder, always prepared for a snacking emergency, pulled out his trusty bag of sunflower seeds. Opening it, he leaned the open
end towards Lun@, offering her some.
Accepting a handful, she carefully began the long, tedious process of separating the small meat from the shell. "Thanks."
Mulder offered the bag to his partner with a leer. "Salts for the salty?"
"No thanks, Mulder," Scully told him, "but I'll stick with the Mystery Meat of the Day."
"Dangerous woman," Lun@ muttered, mouth full of her dry, crusty dinner roll.
"You better believe it!" Mulder leered with a wink.
"Willow to save the day!" a cheery face chirped, popping over the middle seat. Holding out a bag, she grinned. "Just in case,
y'know, your's isn't... uh... edible. Actually, my Mom made 'em. One for each of us."
"Thanks, Willow! You're a lifesaver! Blessings upon you and your family and everything you stand for!" Lun@ yelped greedily,
grabbing the bag. Opening the brown-paper sack up, she searched through the contents. "You know, they should sell these at
the terminal. I know I'd buy 'em! Ooo-oo... chocolate..." With a giant grin, she pulled out a chocolate chip bagel and
ceremoniously began to pull it apart, eating the pieces. "I love you."
Willow bobbed her head against the praise. "So, how ya holding up? Wanna, uh, trade seats or anything?"
Lun@ offered her a kind look. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm enjoying the company." Probably more than they're enjoying
me, but they'll live. She handed a bag of chips from her food sack to Mulder. "Real food. Eat."
Willow turned around, smiling a disturbing smile. "Okay... I'll just... see ya later." From the other side, they could hear the
beginning of a new conversation. "So, Xander... thrown up anything good lately?"
Mulder stuffed the chips between his hip and the seat arm and continued to snack on his sunflower seeds. *Gee, Lun@ silently
murmured wryly, can we say "oral fixation"?* She watched the way he rolled the seed around in his mouth, removing the shell
with the air of fine persision that only comes with experience. Then, Lun@ noticed something even more interesting.
Scully had her eyes fixed on his oral fixation.
And was loving it.
*Hm... interesting... Ve-ry interesting...* With a contemplative look on her face, Lun@ slid her headphones over her ears and
began to listen to one of her favorites: Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita.
*****
"Usagi! Stop poking me! And get your stupid face out of my comic book!" A flash of black hair and a twinkle of brown eyes,
and the "Sailor V" comic book disappeared.
"Hey..." the blonde whined, "Rei... I was reading that..."
The two grinned at each other, reminiscing about a time when such fighting would have been orthodox and commonplace. Three
years and about 50 million monsters later, the two found better things to quibble about than silly comic books, maturity, and
boyfriends.
Well, maybe not the comic books part.
Rei gave her friend a hard look of mock scorn. "Usagi, you're such a baby."
The "baby" stuck out her tongue and pulled her bottom eyelid down with a finger in a childish insult. "Dweeb!"
They stared at each other for a moment, eyes blazing, re-igniting old fires and rubbing the proverbial salt into ancient wounds.
And burst into laughter.
"Usagi," Rei giggled, struggling for breath, "You're such a..." she struggled for breath to continue her sentance. "You're so... You
always use the same old insults, don't you!"
"I do not! You're so mean!" the other girl whined. They stopped laughing for a moment to look each other straight in the eye.
And cracked up again.
"Usagi," Ami interrupted, "don't you have a test tomorrow?"
The blonde stopped laughing. "Oh, yeah," she commented without enthusiasm. "You had to remind me."
"Don't worry," Makoto consoled. "I'm sure Ami, my dear, bestest friend, will help you study."
Ami hung her head and let out a sigh. "Yes... I suppose so..." With a depressed look, the naturally blue-haired girl closed her
book and walked away, towards the flower garden. "Excuse me... I'm just going... to take a walk..."
Makoto and Usagi exchanged a guilty look. "Eh... oops."
Minako, sitting in the corner petting her white cat Artemis, shrugged. "Don't worry, you guys, it's not your fault. She's been that
way ever since the Starlights left," she said, referring to a group of guys that had turned into girls to help them in the fight against
their last opponent. "And frankly," she added, "I'm kinda missing them myself."
"You mean you're missing a certain Yaten Kou from the group," Rei interjected slyly.
"Yeah. Gee, how did you ever guess." The sarcasm was lost on the group, however.
"I think it was the way your eyes always lit up when you saw him," Makoto commented.
"And how he was always so nice to you," Usagi agreed.
"And--" Luna started.
"Stop, stop! Alright, I give!" Minako threw her hands up in surrender. "Geez, next thing you know, Artemis will be ganging up
on me, too!"
Artemis winked at Luna. "Well, I did read your diary..."
"ARTEMIS!!!"
"Lotsa juisy blackmail material in there..."
"AHHH!" The blond haired girl jumped up with fury. "I'm gonna kill you!!!"
A sweatdrop appeared on the white cat's head. "My cue to split." He galloped away, narrowly escaping a flying pillow.
"Betcha didn't know that fried cat is a delicacy in China!!!!" Minako screamed, running after him.
Usagi giggled. "Luna, arencha gonna go after them? I mean, you do want to see Artemis again, right?"
Luna smirked. "A little beating now and then wouldn't kill him."
"A-a-a-a-oWWWWWWWWWW!!! Help! She's--hh-oww!!!" There came a strangling noise from outside.
"Get back here, you mangy animal!" There was the sound of something crashing.
"Or," Luna murmured, jumping out the door, "maybe he'll just owe me one."
Usagi giggled some more. "She'll never believe it, but I actually studied today."
"You?" Makoto cried, dubious. "Study? You're kidding, right?"
Usagi shook her head. "Uh-uh. I cracked the books. And I actually knew some of the stuff. No 30%s for me, nuh-uh!"
Makoto jumped up, guilty. "Maybe I should talk to Ami-chan... I don't need to flunk, either... Plus, I think she needs some
cheering up. Don't worry; I'll give her the time of her life... after she helps me study..." With a weak grin to match her weak
excuse, Makoto left Rei's room to find her blue-haired friend.
Usagi lay back and stared at the ceiling for a while, thinking. "Rei..." she said after a while.
"What is it, Dumpling-head?" the raven-haired beauty replied absently. She didn't even have to glance up to know that Usagi
was self-conciously rolling her eyes up towards the two buns nestled on either side of her head.
Usagi fingered the pigtails that trailed out of the buns nervously. "Promise me something..." the girl's voice quivered.
"Promise me... you'll never die again... you won't let anybody, no matter how powerful they are, kill you, or any of the others...
okay?"
"Geez," Rei looked up in gentle impatience, "Do you have spaghetti in your head to match the dumplings in your hair? I can't
promise anything like that--"
"Rei, promise me. I can't... I can't do it again... not knowing... that I could get you all killed... you just... poof! ...gone..."
"Usagi, that wasn't your fault. Besides, we're all alive now, aren't we?"
"Yes, but... I need you to promise that you won't die again. Not while I'm alive. Not now. Just... please... promise..." She
suddenly sat up. "Rei, you're one of my best, closest friends. Please don't leave me again. I can't... I can't--please--"
"Usagi!" Rei interrupted. "Usagi! Don't worry, I'm not gonna die yet. I promise not to die for a long time, okay?" She hugged
her friend hard. "We're gonna be here for you for a while. So just chill, okay?"
"Okay." Usagi sniffled, wiping two large tears from her large blue eyes. "I'll be okay." She hugged her friend hard. Suddenly, her
back straightened rigidly. "What time is it?"
"Uh... Quarter after seven?"
"Ahhh! I'm late! I was supposed to meet Mamo at seven!!" Scooping up her things, she made a mad dash for the door. "Bye!
See ya later! Tell everyone else--Ahh! Down kitty!--that I left and..." her voice trailed off in the distance.
Rei simply shook her head. "She'll never change."
*****
Mamoru looked at his watch. Why was he not surprised that his Usagi was late? With an "Oomph!" he promptly fell over.
"Sorrysorrysorrysorry," the blond girl chanted, as if it were her personal litany. Looking up, her eyes grew wide. "Mamo!" She
threw her arms around her boyfriend and kissed him squarely on the mouth.
"Mm!! Mm..." he sighed happily, kissing her back. "Usako..." Her pet name was almost lost to the both of them. "So," he
continued, after the kiss had ended sweetly, "ready for dinner?
She laughed. "Are you kidding? I'm starved! I could eat... I could eat... well, a lot!"
He groaned good-naturedly, slinging an arm over her shoulder. "You're gonna take a big chunk out of my paycheck again,
aren't ya?"
Laughing, she held the hand hanging over her shoulder. "Mamo, I love you."
*****
"You guys, have any of you talked to Usagi lately about... Galaxia?"
Minako and the other three seriously considered Rei's question. It wasn't a time any of them were really _comfortable_
remembering, as it had been the stuff nightmares were made of, but it was considered upon polite request of another for a
reason. Galaxia had been a powerful enemy who had stolen their star-seeds, the very essense of their souls, and killed them,
right before the horrified Usagi's eyes. Minako shuddered to remember the look of pain that had been on Usagi's face after
Chaos, the evil entity possessing Galaxia, had been defeated. Galaxia had surrendered and disappeared, leaving Usagi
supposedly all alone. In that one, heartbreaking moment, the girl had completely dispaired. Luckily, Galaxia had released all the
star seeds to go inhabit the bodies of their previous owners, allowing the Sailor Warriors to come back to life, back to Usagi.
"No," Minako finally answered for all of them, "Why?"
Rei paced nervously on the packed-down dirt and shot the others, who were sitting on the temple porch, worried glances. "She
and I had a talk today, that's all."
"About what?" asked Makoto, shaking her long, brown ponytail with interest.
Rei stopped her pacing. "She made me promise not to die again. I think that last battle shook her up more than we thought."
"She's still so innocent, even after all those years of fighting," Minako sighed.
"Yes, she takes things so harshly," Ami agreed. "She feels that she has to be an adult, instead of a kid."
"I don't know," Luna said, smoothing her black fur down with her paw, "I think she has come to handle the responsibility quite
well."
"Yeah," Rei snorted, "too well. She's just a scared little rabbit under all that maturity, a scared little rabbit who's forgotten how
to live. She knows how to fight, she knows how to survive, she's still all innocence and love, but... she's terrified of losing
anyone else."
Makoto nodded slowly. "I think... I think she needs some time to realize that we're not going anywhere for a while."
"Exactly. She'll remember that we're going to be by her side for quite some time now," Ami agreed, closing her enormous
blue-gray eyes.
"How do you know?" asked Minako quietly, twirling a strand of golden hair around her finger. "Maybe we're all going to die
tommorow. Rei, how could you make a promise like that?!? You shouldn't make promises that you won't be able to keep!"
Ami shook her head. "No, it's okay. First of all, Usagi knows that Rei just promised to make her feel better. Second of all, does
everyone remember how we went to the future with Chibiusa a long time ago, before she came back to be a Sailor Senshi?"
There was a quorum of nods as they fondly remembered the pink-haired tyke who'd surprised them all by being Usagi's future
daughter. "Well, we were there, in the future, so we should be okay. At least 'till then.",
"I don't know..." Luna commented, looking into the Japanese sky with apprehension. "I think we aren't going to be prepared for
what comes next..."
*****
Haruka and Michiru walked through the park, side by side, holding hands.
"Ruka," murmured the teal-haired beauty also known as Sailor Neptune, "I think we need to talk."
"Yeah, Michiru?" the tomboy whispered back, stopping to hold her lover's hand. "Do you really think that?"
Michiru reached up to touch the other's short, blond hair. "Have I told you how much I love you yet today?" she asked
sensuously, moving her head closer.
"No..." Her head moved closer, also, and both their eyes slowly closed.
"Oh, I hate to interrupt," A voice called out cheerily, "But do mind surrendering your life for us?" A hand grabbed Michiru's hair,
pulling her away from Haruka. "No, I didn't think so."
Haruka's eyes snapped open as her lover was snatched from her arms, expression growing fierce. "Just who do you think you
are, anyway?!" Throwing a hard left jab, she lashed out at the other's offending mouth.
The mouth suddenly changed. The featured rose and wrinked, becoming ugly folds of flesh, and the teeth became horrendously
filled with points.
"Run, 'Ruka!" the frightened girl cried. "Run, go get help!"
Haruka hated to leave her girlfriend. "No! This trash is going down! You're the ugliest one yet!"
Another horrendously scarred face appeared. "Is she the Slayer?" the vampire asked, disgusted. "We shouldn't have wasted our
time crossing the ocean."
"Don't be fooled," the other replied. "She has slain many of our kind."
"I don't know what your kind is," Haruka growled, "and I don't intend to take the time to figure out! URANUS PLANET
POWER, MAKE UP!"
"What?!?"
Michiru elbowed the vampire holding her hair and stood behind Sailor Uranus. "NEPTUNE PLANET POWER, MAKE UP!"
"Heralded by the New Age, I am Sailor Uranus, acting gorgeously!" the one in the dark navy and yellow uniform cried, running
through her usual lines. "And you have just made a big mistake, buddy!"
"The same for me, Sailor Neptune, acting gracefully!" the teal and navy uniformed senshi cried. "And in the name of Neptune--"
"In the name of Uranus--"
"We will punish you!" they both cried together.
"I don't believe this!" the second vampire told the first. "I thought she was a he!!!"
"Nice legs," the first commented.
"I'm glad you like them, because they're going to be the last thing you ever see!" Neptune began her magical attack. "DEEP
SUBMERGE!"
Waters, appearing out of nowhere, grabbed the vampires and hurled them against a nearby tree.
"SPACE SWORD BLASTER!" Sailor Uranus cried, whacking at the vampires with her magical sword.
With little resistance, she cleanly sliced off the second one's head.
"Hey!" The first one cried, to himself. "She's got a sword!"
"So she does," Neptune commented, "So she does." Grabbing her mirror out of her space-pocket, she looked into it.
"Yes, the vampire leered, sweeping a kick at Uranus, "fix your make up!"
"SUBMARINE..." Neptune cried. Suddenly, she twisted her mirror around to face their mentally challanged attacker.
"REFLECTION!" A beam of bright light shot out of the delicate item, blinding and peeling the skin off the vampire's face and
arms.
"Ahhh!" it screamed, stopping in the middle of the hoarse cry to have it's head cut off.
"Well..." Neptune said, detransforming, "This is something new to tell the Princess..."
"Must we really bother her, Michi?" Uranus asked, also de-transforming. "Dumpling-head's really so much happier being a
normal girl..." She trailed off with a sigh, knowning it had to be done.
"Yes, 'Ruka," Michiru told her quietly, putting a hand on her partner's shoulder, sharing her pain. "She is the Princess. She must
fight."
