Chapter Three, Beauty:

Beautiful. When people described Amy they said intelligent.

When people described Raye they said insightful. When people

described Lita they said strong. When people described Serena they

said caring. When people described her they said beautiful.



Insight and intelligence were useful. Strength got you

through. Caring was a trait very selfless and helpful in the

world, but what was beauty used for? Nothing. It was a shallow,

superficial short lasting quality based on appearance. And it was

all she had. Mina bowed her head in shame as she went to bed with

these thoughts racing through her mind. She would never be anything

but a pretty face. She sighed as she turned off the light to go to

sleep. How she envied the others with their useful, selfless,

helpful traits while she had nothing but a beautiful face that

was fleeting anyway. One day she wouldn't be this beautiful

anymore, and then what would she have? *Nothing,* she felt.

Absolutely nothing.



The next day she walked into the meeting, only a little

late. Serena wasn't far behind Mina though.



"Serena you need to start taking your responsibilities

more seriously," she said in a commanding tone of voice. "In fact

you all need to take your responsibilities more seriously," Luna

added.



"Aw come on Luna we just want to have some fun," Mina

said.



"Yeah," Serena added in the same light tone of voice.

Mina and Serena grinned and giggled together.



Luna shook her head. "Queen Serenity made wishes for all of

you so you would all have better lives, and you're all wasting your

opportunity," she said sadly, walking out of the door to be by

herself. Artemis looked at them all in distaste then followed Luna

out the door to give her company and comfort.



Amy was looking down in guilt. Raye was also pondering the

words of Luna. Mina and Serena got Lita up to dance with them and

try to forget the harsh words of the cat who never let them have

any fun.



Mina was excited to be going to the arcade after the inner

scout meeting. They walked along the sidewalk. "We're going to the

arcade, the arcade, arcade, arcade, arcaaade," sung Mina happily.

Serena skipped along with her as Lita trailed behind, walking

normally but watching her two best friends in amusement.



"What's so funny Lita??" Serena questioned in a joking

manner, popping up in front of her.



Lita caught her breath in her throat. "Geez don't ever

scare me like that again Serena." She closed her eyes for a few

moments and regained her composure as she took deep breaths.



"Last one to the arcade is a rotten sailor!" exclaimed

Mina. Lita ran off at top speed.



"No fairrrrrr," Serena whined. "You guys got a head start.

I don't wannaaaa run."



Lita and Mina giggled and waited up for her.



The next day Mina enjoyed a shopping spree with Serena,

Lita, and Raye.



"How does this outfit look?" Mina asked, coming out of the

dressing room of her favorite shop with a new red outfiet on.



"Wow," Raye said as Lita and Serena's mouths hung open.



"You look gorgeous girl!" Lita exclaimed.



"Thank you," she said happily.



They all continued to search for the perfect outfits and

tried various clothings as well as accessories on. Some met with

approval, some were maybes, and some got a look that said they

definitely needed to be trashed by the other three friends. When

all four were done they decided to go try to meet Amy at the

museum to head to a movie.



That night was a sleepover for all the inners and Hotaru.



"Take that!" Lita exclaimed as she threw a pillow straight

at Raye's head.



"oh you're gonna be soo sorry you did that!" exclaimed

Raye, hitting Lita with a pillow full force. Lita grunted and they

all at the funny expression on Lita's face.



"How about we play Truth or Dare?" Raye suggested.



"Yeah!" Mina agreed.



"No way," Serena said.



"Let's not play that," Hotaru requested.



"Oh all right," Raye said, giving into Serena and Hotaru.

An unusual occurrence that they both were thankful for.



They all sat down in their sleeping bags and ate some milk

and cookies while they were each lost in their own thoughts before

Hotaru finally suggested they watch a movie, and everyone else

agreed. There was much debating as to which movie to watch, but

eventually they settled on watching a romantic and dramatic

action/comedy to give everyone a taste of what they liked best in

a movie.



The next day was an exciting time ice skating with

Michelle, Amara, Hotaru, Lita, Raye, and Darien.



Darien lifted Raye up into the air and spun her around on

the ice. They were all out for a fun time of ice-skating. Everyone

that is except Serena who was grounded and Amy as well as Trista

who were reading. "Do you think Serena will be jealous when she

hears about this?" Lita asked in a teasing manner.



Darien dropped Raye, who landed on her butt. "You better

not tell her," Raye hissed.



Lita laughed. "Relax, I won't," she promised. "But it

would be hilarious if I did..."



Raye glared at her. "All right. All right. Calm down," Lita

said, her hands up in the air.



Amara lifted Michelle into the air and spun her around

longer than Darien. "Ha," Michelle said. "My love is better than

yours," she teased Raye.



Darien blushed and Raye glared at her as she stood up.



Hotaru and Mina were practicing their spins together.



An all scout meeting met the next day.



"We call this meeting to order!" Luna announced as all the

sailor soldiers sat down in their respective chairs in human form.



"Really LUna, things have been quiet for awhile. Is it

actually necessary to continue to have all these weekly meetings?"

Mina asked.



"I suppose bimonthly would be enough now," she reluctantly

conceded.



Mina smiled and Serena shouted "Yippee."



"It's nice to finally have some peace," Hotaru commented.

The others nodded their heads in agreement.



Seeing as there were no new events or fears, the meeting

was quickly over.



Then she stayed at the outers' house for a vegging out

session with Hotaru.



Mina burped as Hotaru came out of the kitchen at the

outers' house with a tray full of more goodies. They both sighed

in contentment as they dug into their food. "Everybody needs a

good binge now and then," Mina said in her characteristically

cheerful mood."



"Amen to that," Hotaru agreed, happily digging into some

dessert.



Mina sighed heavily as she got into bed that night. She

had had a good day, but what about Alan? She still thought about

him most every day though the constant pain had become more of a

dull ache in her stomach. She missed him and her best friend

dearly, but she also knew that despite missing her they must be

very happy together. She was glad to be living with her father now.

He wasn't perfect, but he did his best. Anyway he was a better

parent than her mother would ever be. Her mother would always

blame things on everybody else including her father, but Mina knew

the marriage had failed because of her mother's impossible

expectations. Not because her father wasn't good enough.

That gave her some comfort because it also meant that despite not

being good enough for her mother, it didn't mean she wasn't a good

enough person. Her mother had set impossibly high expectations

for her daughter too. *All those years I tried so hard to be the

perfect little girl she wanted, and all that time wasted because

I never was good enough for her no matter how hard I tried or how

much I accomplished,* Mina thought sadly.



She looked out her window as she finished brushing her

hair and looked in the mirror. *Was this all she was?* she wondered

again. *Just a pretty face?* At least her father thought she was

more, and for now that would have to be enough for her.



To Be Continued...