Once Lost, Now Found

Lita-1

PG-13

Fleur

(Fleur422@yahoo.com)

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sorry for the long wait on this guys, you in no means deserved to go through that. However, Sea-chan has no Internet access during the summer, and I was just plain old lazy. Please forgive us. And if you won't do that, at least read our story and leave a nice review. You know how we love reviews. Okay, we're more obsessed, but still. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I've got a plan to kidnap Mamo-chan and the generals, if you need more info., you can reach me at—

 SS: *hits Fleur on the head, abruptly halting speech* Not another one of your kidnapping plans? Do you remember how the last plan turned out?

Fleur: Um…no?

SS: *Points at broken wrist*

Fleur: Oh…yeah. Sorry about that. Anyway, I don't own Sailor Moon or any of that fun stuff. But the plot for world domination is still on.

"I was lost,

And you were found…"

--Sweet Misery, Michelle Branch

___________________________________________________________________

The tall man had to jump out of the way as two children with swords ran by, and he quickly he dodged behind a cart filled with fruit. In a matter of fact all the people here were active. Merchants would jump up and down all day if it would attract customers, and customers were hard to draw. They all walked in long strides, nobody ever just… lagged. Scents of a nearby restaurant wafted down the street, causing his stomach to grumble in protest of his long fast. He wished things like food were his only problems, but it seemed he had a whole history to remember. He guessed it was too much to ask for something such as memories to come easy, nothing in his life came easy anymore—not that he would remember if it ever had.

After the children ran by, he came out back onto the street that he'd been walking down all day. He didn't know why, and he didn't know how, but he was here. Where exactly "here" was, was another question. He didn't think running up to some random stranger and asking where them where he was would exactly score him points with the people. Sure, it would probably score him a padded cell in an asylum somewhere…

The man ran his hand through his long brown hair, wishing he could tie it back with something to keep it out of his eyes. The only thing he had was the clothes on his back, and those were no help… or were they. The man reached down to the bottom of his gray shirt and tugged, effectively tearing off a strip of material. He tied it in his hair and kept walking.

A good-sized restaurant grabbed his attention. It stood in the middle of the line of shops, beautiful in greens and golds. And the smell…the man could almost hear his stomach asking him to go order an equivalent of "The Hungry Man's Breakfast." He decided just to look at what they had, looking wouldn't hurt, in reality he had not enough money to do much more than that. He reached out and grabbed the brass doorknob, walking in slowly as if he had something to fear. Once inside he sat down at the counter, drooling at the sight of different muffins, pastries, and other such goods.

          "Can I help you?" Came a friendly voice. It was a girl in her early twenties, with long black hair tied in a braid that traveled to her hips.

The nameless man smiled at her and shook his head, just as his stomach led out a loud groan. Laughing the girl grabbed two muffins from behind the tabletop and placed them in front of him.

          "You look like a nice guy, and the cook usually makes a ton anyway. We always have extra," Then she stopped and laughed, "Unless of course the Moon Queen is visiting, but anyway, these are on the house."

          "Thanks," He said, barely able to manage not attacking the muffins before the girl walked away. After he'd calmed the beast he called his stomach he was able to think clearly once more. The girl had said something about a "Moon Queen." For some reason the name nagged at his memory, urging him to remember something. But what?

After finishing his meal he stood and thanked the girl. "Come back anytime!" She said in an energetic voice. Before stepping out the door he checked to see if there were any dangers lurking on the streets of this forein land. It's a good thing he did too, for on the stoop of the restaurant sat five little girls who were fighting…a plant? The tallest girl was wearing a strip of green cloth around a white shirt and pair of shorts. The others followed her example with colors such as red, blue, and orange.

          "What are you doing there?" He asked kindly.

          "Playin' Senshi!" One little girl with red hair said.

          "I'm the senshi of this planet, Sailor Jupiter!" Another of the little girls raised her sword, nearly poking him in the eye.

The man blinked. Once, then twice. "Sailor Jupiter?" He questioned. "I know that name."

          "Well duh, silly." A tiny blonde girl with an orange ribbon reprimanded him, "She's only the leader of this planet." Her attitude and something in the way she looked and held herself reminded him of someone…

"Silly me," The man said as he tried to cover his shock. He had this feeling that Sailor Jupiter was the answer to all of his questions. "Where does Sailor Jupiter live?"

          "I dunno. But she practices with real weapons at the stadium. I wanted to go watch her practice today, but Mama wouldn't let me." She pouted before pointing in to a smaller boy that was down the lane a bit. "EWWW! It's a youma."

One of her friends looked confused, "Isn't that your brother?"

The first little girl rolled her eyes, "Not today he isn't!" All five girls ran off to go fight the alleged "youma," leaving the brooding man with much to think about.

***

The woman known as Sailor Jupiter, leader of the planet Jupiter, was sweating like a pig. Or we could put it more elegantly and say she was glistening profusely. To her friends, the perspiring girl was simply Lita, cookie maker extraordinaire.  However, cookies were the last thing on her mind as she fought with one of her many students, Tom. He was good, but still he had a lot to learn. With one last thrust she pinned him to the dirt floor of the circular training center. When he gave her the sign of defeat she waited for him to sit up.

A tall boy was revealed with sandy hair and a freckled face. He was sweating more so than Lita, but still a smile crossed his face. "I almost had you there, Master Lita."

"Keep telling yourself that kid. You were my warm-up today." He laughed, for he knew she was right. Even without her senshi form Lita was a damn good opponent.

          "Well, yhanks again. I'll see you next week."

Lita started to nod before smacking her hand to her forehead. "I can't Tom, I'm going to Crystal Tokyo for the week, but I'm sure you'll hear about it when I get back. Stop by then." He nodded, with a wave he went to go clean up.

Now Lita was bored. None of her other regulars had stopped by to fence, and none of her other friends and senshi were in the present atmosphere. She slumped onto the dirt ground and stared out of the dome. Just as she was perfecting a new recipe, a voice woke her from her daydream.

 "Mind if I give it a try?"

Lita popped up to see the speaker that had entered into her practice court, only to see a man wearing a fencing helmet and brandishing a thin sword that he must have gotten from her public stock room.

          "You're new around here, aren't you." She raised an eyebrow. "Do I get to see your face before we fight?"

          "How about this. If you win, you can see it."

          "Is it scarred or something?" She interrogated. Hey, nobody ever said Lita was subtle.

          "No, I just like to be mysterious." He chuckled, and she smiled in return. It crossed her mind that she had always wanted a masked man back in the days when she and the other girls and swooned over a particularly hunky man dressed in a tuxedo. If only he hadn't been so caught up on her best friend.

He reached out a hand to help her up from the ground, one that she gladly accepted. Little did she know that it would cause something like a bolt of electricity to run through her body. I really hope he's hot under that mask! She thought to herself. But he must think I look like something the cat dragged in! But she couldn't have known that the masked man was already captivated by her. She might have been sweaty, and maybe she did smell a bit like dirt, but he knew she was special.

Lita put on her gear once more, preparing herself. Within minutes they were both at the center of the court, ready and raring to go.

          "One…" She started.

          "Two…" He was starting to pick up the game.

          "THREE!" The opponents were at each other before the last word was uttered. The man for his part noticed how similar their styles were. Sporadic, yet graceful. To tell the truth he didn't even know he could fence, but when he picked up the sword he knew he could try.

          The swords clashed repeatedly, each fencer unable to penetrate the other's defense. At one point the man had almost touched Lita, but she'd dodged with remarkable skill. The fight roared on for over ten minutes. The brown-haired man was sweating dangerously, as he felt a trickle of moisture move towards his eye. He was on the offense however, so he assured himself he'd be done in a moment.

In a moment he was done, but not the way he expected. With a whirl Lita had taken him by surprise and aimed her sword towards his legs. Predictably he jumped, that's why he didn't expect the tap of a sword form mid-air. Surprise overtook him and he fell with a thud onto the ground.

          "That's really going to hurt tomorrow." Lita said, between big gasps of air. She would never admit it, but he had almost beaten her.

          "Forget tomorrow, how about now?" She laughed at the humor in his voice and leaned over to give him a hand up. He accepted and felt a tingle run through him at contact, while his other hand reached to de-mask, revealing the face of a man she thought to have been dead.

Nephrite.

          "OH MY GODDESS!" The senshi of Jupiter was staring at Nephrite, as was his name, like he was a ghost. And to her, he was.

          "What—" But before he could finish his question, she'd promptly let go of his hand, causing him to fall back and pass out.

          "Listen buddy," She said to the unconscious man before her, "Nobody messes with me and the rest of the senshi—you just crossed the line. Now I'm going to have to leave early on my trip and take your sorry hide along." After a moment's pause she pulled something out of an invisible space. To anybody but select few, it would have seemed impossible.

          "Jupiter… Crystal… POWER!"

And with a flash of sparkly green light, the two not-so-human bodies were gone. The only thing left of them was the imprint of their footsteps in the courtyard dirt.

***

Is anyone *else* seeing a pattern here? Guess who's coming next…

*Sea-chan pokes head out* Okay. She's gone. Now, if anyone needs info on kidnapping the generals… what? Why are you all staring at me like I'm crazy? *Pause. Grin* Besides the obvious. I mean, it's not like I'm Sea-chan. *feels face* Oh. Wait a minute now. *reaches at back of neck and pulls SKIN forward… revealing devious little face of Fleur* It is I, Fleur-chan, to save the day! *Stands triumphantly as flag behind her waves in the wind*

SS: Fleur… *Sea-chan's voice comes pouring through loud-speakers from all around*

Fleur: Meep! *runs away*