Chapter Four, Fiery Priestess:

Work your hardest to get the best results. That was what

Raye firmly believed in, and she stuck to that value, that

principle. She devoted her life to working hard, focusing on the

present so as not to have to deal with the unnamed past. So as to

bury the past and just work in the here and now to be her best at

everything. It gave her a good sense of accomplishment, futhered

her own education and chance for a good career, and it allowed her

to avoid the pains of the past. Her diligent work ethic was a big

part of what made it so hard for her to understand Serena's (and

to a certain extent Mina's) lack of work ethic. She had had

horrible things happen in her life, and she had come out fighting

and working hard to get somewhere in life while Serena lazed

around. Serena astounded her. She was so wise about emotional

things, but when it came to the spiritual and working hard, she was

clueless. She was getting somewhere in her life all right, but what

Raye didn't realize was that she had also cut off from the world

and from herself to avoid feeling the pain of the past. She was in

denial and someday she would have to snap out of it. Today however

was not that day. She dressed herself and quickly ran her

toothbrush over her teeth and gargled and spit into the sink. She

went outside where Luna and Artemis were already waiting to start

the inner scouts' meeting. Serena was the latest as usual.



"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.



Afterwards Raye got prepared to do the training session

with Amy, the only other one to show up.



"Where are those three?" Luna asked in exasperation.



"They went to the arcade," Raye informed the curious cat.



Luna sighed. "At least Mars and Mercury came to train,"

Artemis said hopefully.



Luna sighed again. "We need them all to come to the

training sessions. I swear those three don't take anything

seriously, especially Serena."



"You're always hardest on her," Amy commented.



"Well she is my charge. I daresay it would do Mina some

good if Artemis were stricter with her as well, but as it is Mina

probably controls Artemis more than he controls her."



"I'm not looking to control or be controlled by anyone,"

said Artemis.



"Maybe you're right." Luna sighed again. "It's just so

hard to know what to do anymore."



"I don't think you're too hard on her Luna. I think Mina

and Serena need that," Raye chimed in.



"Aww just let them have some fun," said Artemis.



"Meanwhile let's all train," Amy said. The others nodded

their heads in agreement. "Mercury Power!!"



"Mars Power!!" shouted Raye.



In a twirl of lights the two sailor soldiers of Mercury

and Mars stood before the guardian cats to commence training.



The next day she went shopping with Serena, Mina, and

Lita. Amy was going to some museum thing with her after-school

class. Raye tried really hard to enjoy the time they all spent

together, but in the back of her mind she was beginning to feel

more and more depressed every single day. It had been weeks now

that this blue period had lasted which is why she was beginning

to think it really was depression.



"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 the inner scouts had a sleepover with 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 laughed 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 she tried again to enjoy herself and failed

miserably while going ice skating with Michelle, Amara, Hotaru,

Lita, Mina, 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.



The next day was a meeting for all the sailor scouts.

Raye almost lost track of time and missed the meeting, but she

happened to catch a glance at the clock a few minutes before it

was time and rushed down to the outers' house.



"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.



After the meeting she went outside and saw Trista

standing on the balcony as well. They were silent for awhile

before one finally spoke.



The long black hair mingled with the long dark green hair

that blew in the wind on the balcony. Raye and Trista were having

a serious discussion about their worries that new enemies would be

arriving soon.



"And with all the time we've had off I'm worried they're

going to be really tough ones, and we won't be prepared," Raye

said.



Trista nodded her head. "I know what you mean. We need to

keep training and meeting as hard if not harder to prepare for

what's to come."



"Do you know something Trista?" Raye asked.



"Not exactly. It's more of a feeling you know."



"Yeah I know exactly what you mean. I have the same

feeling."



Raye pondered those words as she unsuccessfully tried to

fall asleep that night. The memories of her parents abandoning her

left her with no rest. Those same memories she had tried so long to

fight against, to suppress, were finally coming to the surface, and

the scout of Mars was not the one paying the price. It was that

sad, lost, lonely little girl who had lost her mother in a fire and

her father to business that caused her heartwrenching pain that night.

To Be Continued...