Reunions
Chapter 1
"Reunited and It Feels so Good"
Serena Tsukino opened the door of her apartment, walked in, and slammed the door behind her. She then walked into the middle of the living room and plopped into a black leather recliner. She slouched deep into it, the material feeling good against her body. "Whew!" she huffed. "I am SO glad to be home!" As she spoke, a black, furry object on the floor suddenly stirred. Two ears perked up, two eyes opened, a long tail appeared, and soon the black object got up and stretched, revealing itself to be a cat. It's head, with a yellow crescent moon on the forehead, turned towards Serena. "Oh, it's you," said Luna. "How was your day?" "Oh, your typical day at the supermarket," said Serena. "Not enough people at the registers, constantly running out of supplies, a few costumers complaining about our 'ridiculous' prices, that kind of thing." Serena slouched deeper into the black leather recliner. "I'm glad to be home..." she finished. "Good to know you still enjoy your job," Luna joked. "Oh, be quiet," Serena returned. "Is it me, or is it hot in here?" "I think it is," the cat answered. Serena got up out of the chair, walked to the side of the room, and flipped a switch on a gray panel on the wall. A whirring sound was heard, and the room almost instantly began to feel a few degrees cooler. Serena plopped back into the recliner, and sighed happily as the cool air flowed through the room and around her body. She then looked to the side of the room, into the kitchen area. She could see several dishes peeking out over the top of the sink. Serena sank into the chair and sighed. "Uuuugh..." she complained. "I've got to do the dishes again..." Probably the only thing Serena disliked about her apartment was, for a living area of such size, the only thing it didn't have was a dishwasher! Serena had to wash her dishes by hand when her sink was full, and it seemed like it was getting full quicker and quicker every time. Serena would have gone out and bought a dishwasher, however, number 1, she couldn't afford one at the moment, and number two, she didn't know WHERE to buy one. Luna would have helped her find one, but in this matter she was just as clueless as Serena. So for the moment, they both had to deal with hand washing. "Any calls for me?" Serena asked. "No," answered Luna. "The phone's been very silent today." "Anything at all of interest?" "No." "In that case," said Serena, getting up from the chair, "I'm going to go lie down for a while; it's been a long day, and I need a rest." "Whatever you say," the cat said, laying her head back on the floor between her front paws, and closing her eyes. As Serena walked through the room and towards her bedroom door, Luna perked her head up again and asked, "Anything good in the mail today?" Serena froze in her tracks, then groaned. "Uuuuh...I forgot to pick up the mail. I'll be right back." She turned and rushed through the front door, closing it behind her. Luna put her head back on the floor and closed her eyes again. However, no sooner had she done so then she heard the unmistakable sound of Serena screaming, followed by a loud THUD, as if someone had just clumsily fallen on her face. Luna shook her head in disgust and said, "Some things never change..."
*** Several days later, it was Saturday, which meant Serena had the weekend off. On days like these, Serena liked to just walk through the city she lived in, say hello to people she knew, and just plain enjoy her time off from work. Today, she walked through the streets of Tokyo, down the sidewalk, through crowds of people. After about an hour of walking, Serena sat down on a sidewalk bench and rest there. "Whew!" she puffed. "I needed that!" She sunk into the bench and looked around. She saw several young, happy couples walking up and down the street, hand in hand. Serena watched them and smiled. She watched one in particular, and imagined the two of them as herself and Darien. Serena sighed. She felt very comfortable in her surroundings. The cool breeze compensated for the warm summer weather, evening things out perfectly. She felt so comfortable here, that she almost didn't hear someone suddenly call... "HEY, MEATBALL HEAD!!" Serena perked up her head and looked to her right, at the source of the call. Even before she could clearly see who it was who called to her , she could tell from the fact that, number one, Darien wasn't in town, and, number 2, it was a female voice, that it could only be one person. At the end of the street, Serena saw two people walking towards her. One was a female, slightly taller than Serena, with long violet-black hair. The other was a man, even taller than the first, with brown hair that almost came down over his eyes. "Hi, Raye!" Serena cheerfully called. "Hey, Chad!" "Hey, Serena," said Raye. "How've you been?" "Oh, great," Serena answered. "Things couldn't be better over at the market. How are things at the temple?" "Unfortunately," said Raye, the smile gone from her face, "things could be better." Serena stopped smiling and looked worried at her long-time friend. "Really?" she asked. "What's wrong?" Raye continued, "Lately, we've been having some trouble with a certain group of teenagers that have been hanging around the temple. They've been acting as stupid as humanly possible!" "You're going to have to be more specific, Raye," said Serena. "By your logic, I can act as stupid as humanly possible." "What I mean," Raye continued, "is that they've been causing all sorts of trouble." "It's, like, your basic gang of hoodlums," Chad explained. "They harass the visitors, they swear, they fight,..." "They even smoke!" Raye broke in. Serena cringed anf grimaced. "Eew!" she said. "Why would anyone want to do that to their body?" "Beats us," said Chad. "Once we even caught in the back with a bunch of spray paint! We chased them away each time they started anything, and they threatened us a few times too when we did." "And after that thing with spray cans, they started throwing rocks at the windows!" Raye said. "I don't believe it!" Serena said. "Was anything broken?" "Fortunately, no," said Chad. "It's a good thing the temple doesn't have that many windows to break!" "It'll be bad enough if they break any windows," said Raye. "If they break anything on the inside, it'll be war, let me tell you! Someone of that stuff is priceless, and irreplaceable! If anything happened to any of that stuff, Grandpa would roll over in his grave!" "Well, I'm sorry to hear about all that," said Serena. "Look, if you two need anything to pay for those windows, I'm sure I can talk to my supervisors, and they can get you some extra money to..." "Thanks, Serena," said Raye, with a smile, "but I doubt your market will want to spend the extra money just on some stupid local temple." "Oh please!" Serena returned. "The market has trouble with hoodlums day in and day out! Hardly a day goes by without some juvenile delinquent causing me some trouble. And as for the money, my supervisors couldn't care less about lending it to ME! I'm always under budget every month anyway, so they have the extra funds. If you guys need it, I can get it for you, I swear!" Raye was taken aback by this. Never in her life had she seen Serena with such a humanitarian attitude. She and Chad both smiled. "Thanks, Meatball Head!" said Raye. "It could help us a lot, but I won't call you unless it gets really serious." "Well, call me if there's anything else I can do to help. I don't like seeing my friends in trouble." "We will," Raye said, then glanced at her watch. "We need to get back to the temple and make sure that gang didn't break in and steal anything. See you later, Meatball Head!" Raye turned and took Chad with her. They both waved, then walked away. Serena waved back, then sat back in her chair and sighed happily. Things had definitely changed between her and Raye in the last ten years. She was happy with the way their relationship went, and was glad to see Raye as content as she was. Not only that she was the head priestess at her own temple, but that she had Chad as well. Even though Raye wouldn't admit it to anyone, Serena knew Raye felt the same way about Chad that he did about her. But it wasn't Serena's job to bring them together; she knew eventually Raye herself would do that. Serena looked at the time, then got up and continued her walk.
*** Serena continued through the city. About an hour later, she found herself outside the video arcade and ice cream parlor, which was now turned into a full-fledged restaurant. Serena, feeling particularly hungry, decided to get herself some lunch. She walked in and surveyed the scene. The lines at the counter were short, so she didn't have to wait long to make her order. At several tables, she saw young couples sharing ice cream together, and it made Serena reminisce about times she's spent here with Darien. Despite her reputation of having a carniverous appitite, Serena went light on the lunch, that is, compared to her normal diet. She ordered a double hamburger, fries, and a chocolate milkshake. She ate them at a normal rate, not scarfing them down in a millisecond, and actually stopped to enjoy the taste of the food in her mouth. After she finished the burger and fries, she slowly slurped down her milkshake, watching the couples, people making their orders. She was so engrossed in watching them, she didn't even notice the tall, blonde-haired man walk up to her and say: "Hey, Serena! Long time no see." Serena turned her head towards the voice and got a good look at the man. He wore blue jeans, a light blue shirt, and a white apron. He was leaning against booth she sat in, with a small glass of water in one hand, the other in his pocket. Serena's eyes lit up, and she smiled. "Hi, Andrew!" she cried. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you around here in a while! How are you?" "I'm fine," he said. "Things were a little hectic at the hospital, but I finally got some time off for all the hours I've been working lately. How are things for you?" "Okay, I guess," she said. "How are Chad and Raye?" "Could be better," Serena answered. "They've been having a lot of trouble with this one group of teenagers..." Andrew shook his head in disgust. "They're having problems with that gang of hoodlums too, huh?" he asked. "What do you mean?" "We've had trouble with those kids too," Andrew explained. "They've been coming here often, harassing the customers, kicking the machines around, even trying to steal quarters out of the change machine!" Serena shook her head. "I had no idea me and Raye and Chad weren't the only ones having trouble with those kids!" she commented. "Oh yeah," he said. "Everyone in the neighborhood has trouble with these guys. And when they're out of this neighborhood, they harass the people in the area they ARE in." "Kind of makes you think some teenagers are going through some mental disease, doesn't it?" "You got it," he said. "It makes me sick every time I have to chase thosekids away from the arcade." "Well enough about that," said Serena. "What's new with you?" "Not much," Andrew said. "We haven't gotten any new machines in a while, and the customers are starting to complain." Serena smiled, then looked behind him. The edge of the arcade was at least twenty feet from where the two of them were, and there didn't seem to be anyone supervising things in the area. She looked back up at Andrew. "Isn't your supervisor going to be angry that you're away from your post?" she asked. Andrew chuckled, then answered, "Serena, I am the supervisor!" "Really!?" "Yep," he said. "Just got promoted a few weeks ago." "That's great!" Serena said. "Now we're both the bosses of our own business!" "That's right," he said. He held up his glass of water. "Here's to being the boss!" "I'll drink to that," Serena said. She raised her milkshake, and "clinked" it against his glass. He took a sip of water, and she continued slurping down the shake. They both then put down their beverages. "So how's Darien?" Andrew asked. "I know you two keep in touch." "Oh, he's fine," she said. "Things are going great in New York for him." "That's good to hear," he said. "Have YOU heard from him at all?" Serena asked. "He's YOUR friend too, you know." "Oh, of course!" he answered. "He gives me a call every once in a while. We talk about old times, what's going on now, we make a few prank calls..." The smile faded from Serena's face, and she stared wide-eyed at him. "I'm kidding, Serena."
*** After lunch and her conversation with Andrew, Serena left the arcade and continued her walk. Sometimes, on days like these, she liked to walk aimlessly, just for the fun of seeing where she'd end up. Today was such a day, in which she didn't much care where she was going, as long as she was enjoying herself in the process. And she was having fun, which was all that mattered to her. She made her way down the street, past groups of people, shops, stores, malls, etc. She was oblivious to anything going on around her at the moment, paying little attention to even the direction she was going in. Unfortunately, it was this that made her bump into someone as she turned a corner. Both Serena and the mystery person let out a loud "OOF!", then fell to the ground, the packages the person carrying getting scattered around the area they were in. Serena slowly got up, her back to the person she'd bumped into. "Whoa!" Serena said. "I am so sorry!" "No, it's my fault..." the person said, in a very familar voice. At the sound of the voice, Serena turned around to get a look at the person she'd bumped into. She was picking up her packages. She was a small woman, a little under Serena's size, with long, wavy, dark purple hair. The woman looked up and smiled at Serena. Serena smiled back when she realized who it was. "Catsy!" she said. "I am so sorry, I didn't know it was you!" "Hi, Serena!" Catsy said back. "How are you?" "Oh, I'm great!" she said. "How are you and your sisters?" "Oh, they're fine," said Catsy. "Sorry I knocked all your stuff out of your hands," said Serena, bending down to help her with the packages. "What is all this stuff, anyway?" "Just some extra inventory," Catsy said. "I'm the youngest sister, so Birdie, Avary, and Prisma make ME run all the errands. Whether it's getting more eyeshadow or just taking the day's income to the bank, I'm always the one to run out and do something for THEM!" "Sorry to hear that," said Serena, handing Catsy some of the packages. "Let me help you carry these in; it's my fault you lost 'em." "Thanks, Serena, but I got 'em," Catsy replied, taking the last of the packages from her. They both then stood up. Serena looked towards the white building, up at the sign of the front of it. It read, in gold and silver letters, in cursive writing, "SISTERS' SECRETS". "Wow," Serena said. "I didn't even realize I was walking by the cosmetics shop." "Well, I guess it's just one of those places you run into," Catsy said. "So how are Chad and Raye?" "Could be better," Serena said. "Hoodlum problems." "Them too? That's too bad." she said, then smiled mischievously. "How's DARIEN?" Serena blushed. "He's fine." "So do you want to come in for a few minutes?" Catsy asked. "My Sisters would love to see you, and we just got some great new products!" Serena was about to answer, when she saw a large clock on a lamp post behind Catsy. It was about 7:30 P.M. "I'd love too, Catsy," she finally answered, "but I've got to get home. Luna's probably wondering where I am. Maybe next time, though." Suddenly, a voice behind both of them called out, "Hey, Catsy! How about getting that stuff in here sometime today, huh?" They both turned to the white building, and poking her head out of a glass door was a woman with icy blue hair spun into a braid in the back of her head. It was Catsy's older sister, Birdie. "I gotta go too," said Catsy. "I'll see you 'round." "See ya!" Serena called as she walked away, meanwhile waving to Birdie, who politely waved back, a smile on her pretty face. Serena sighed happily. She was glad she knew so many people who she could really call friends. Raye, Chad, Andrew, Catsy and the other Sisters...it made her feel very good about herself. Realizing Luna would be upset if Serena got home late, she hailed a taxi and headed for home.
*** Serena walked in the door of her apartment and dropped into the leather recliner in the middle of her living room. She sighed and smiled to herself, then leaned back in the chair. Meanwhile, Luna was getting up off the floor, and jumped on the back of the recliner, looking down on Serena. "You must have had quite a day," said Luna. "You're not ususally back this late from your weekend walks." "Well, I walked a long way," Serena replied. "Plus, I got to talk to Raye, Chad, Andrew, and Catsy along the way." "Well, that's nice to hear," Luna said. "How are they?" "They're fine," she said. "They're all having problems with that gang of hoodlums, but otherwise they're just dandy." "That's good." the cat said, with a yawn, as she lay her head down and went to sleep. Serena sighed again, and the smile faded from her face. Talking to all these friends she'd made in the past made her wish things were like they used to be; Raye bickering with her non-stop, Amy scolding her about schoolwork habits, Darien teasing her every time they met. She got up out of the recliner, and walked over to a bookcase on the right side of the room. She stood in front of it, and pulled on a green-covered book. However, as soon as she pulled it, it pulled back, and a section of the bookcase, made to look like a row of books, turned around on a axel. The section of the bookcase made a full 180-degree turn, revealing a hidden glass display case, that opened up and popped out. Serena looked at the contents of the display, with thoughts of the past running through her head. On the inside of the case, four old relics of the past were displayed. One, Serena's original transformation locket, given to her by Luna to transform into Sailor Moon when her life as the champion of justice began. It had been restored, even after its mysterious destruction years ago. Another, the Crescent Moon Wand, used by her when Zoycite began looking for the Rainbow Crystals, and what she'd used to turn monsters back into humans again. A third, the Moon Sceptor, given to her by her mother Queen Serenity, after she went into a mental coma during a fight with one of Allan and Ann's Cardian monsters. It was what she used thereafter to destroy the Cardians, heal the Doom Tree, and defeat the droids of the Four Sisters and the rest of the Black Moon Family. And the fourth, displayed in front of the other three, was the Imperium Silver Crystal, formed by the seven Rainbow Crystals when Tuxedo Mask had been injured, and what revealed Serena as the Moon Princess, and the past she'd led over a thousand years earlier. Serena stared at these relics in awe, remembering all the times she'd transformed into her alter ego to save her friends and family from some intergalactic demon. To the right of the bookcase, several photographs were framed and hanging on the wall. Serena turned her attention from the display to these photos, and looked at them one by one. They were pictures taken of Amy, Raye, Lita and Mina, and a larger one of the entire group, including Serena. She looked at all of them, remembering... She looked at Amy's photo, and remembered when she'd first moved to Tokyo, and transferred to Crossroads Junior High. Some of Serena's friends were gossiping about her, and Serena decided to get to know her herself. However, their first conversation got off to a bad start when... "Melvin told me that you said I would be a total snob!" Amy had said. Serena laughed nervously, blushed, and replied, "Oh, he did, did he? Uh...look, that was all just gossip; none of us meant a word of it!" Serena looked at Raye's picture, and remembered when a bunch of transport busses were disappearing from the Cherry Hill Temple. Amy and Serena investigated the matter, which was when they met Raye. Raye had suddenly started acting strange, saying she'd felt an evil force. She revealed a white "anti-evil" scroll... "By the power of all that is good, I BANISH YOU!" Raye chanted. From Serena's point of view, all went black for the next 30 minutes or so, because Raye had slammed the scroll on Serena's forehead, completely knocking her out. From Lita's picture, Serena remembered one day (of many) when she was late for school. She ran down the street and around the corner, and accidentally slammed into the leader of a macho tough-guy gang. They were about to pound Serena into the dirt when... "Hey!" Lita had cried. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size!?!" "Oh, I'm so scared!" the leader said. "This girl thinks she can beat me up! Well, I'd like to see that!" As the old saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for." For right after his remark, Lita proceeded to fight all three of them, and knock them to the pavement with a few sore spots. The next time they'd met was at school, where Serena saw her having her lunch alone. Melvin tried to warn Serena to stay away, but she walked up behind her all the same. When she was within a foot of her... Lita turned her head and demanded, "WHAT DO YOU WANT!?!" Even from this bad start, Serena and Lita became friends. Serena looked at Mina's photo, and remembered one time when Sailors Moon, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter were fighting Zoycite and, for the first time, Malachite. He had trapped them in a black bubble, which was slowly closing in on them, with absolutely no means of escape. It looked hopeless, until... "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!!" a voice yelled. A yellow ray of light struck the black dome from the outside, disintegrating it completely, and freeing the Sailor Scouts. Everyone turned to see the person they knew as Sailor V. The mysterious fighter jumped to the ground and removed her mask, revealing herself as Sailor Venus. And from behind the scene, a white cat with the same crescent shape on his forehead as Luna's, jumped out and introduced himself as Artemis. Zoycite and Malachite fled the scene, while the Sailor Scouts looked in awe at their surprise rescuer. Serena looked at the picture of the entire group, and remembered everything they'd been through together in the last ten years. Serena turned from the smaller pictures, and turned to an even larger one, the largest of all, in fact. It was a picture of her and Darien. She sat with his back to him, with his arms wrapped around her, both of them smiling for the camera. It had been taken at an amusement park, by a friends of theirs who happened to be there. Serena looked at the pcture and sighed, then looked to the ground with her eyes closed. "Oh, Darien..." she thought, as a tear slowly ran down her cheek. "...I miss you so much..." "You'll see him again," a voice said. Serena wiped the tear from her face and turned her head, to see Luna sitting on the floor behind her. "You know that, don't you?" she asked. "Of, course I do, Luna," said Serena, turning back to the picture. "It's just that I wish I knew WHEN..." "Serena," said Luna, walking up next to her. "I'm sure, that wherever Darien is right now, whatever he's doing, his thoughts are of you, and how very much he loves you. Don't ever forget that." Serena thought about what the cat had just said. In her mind, she could just imagine Darien saying, "I love you, Meatball Head." Serena smiled and said, "Thanks, Luna." "No problem," the cat said.
*** Monday came, and Serena was back at work. She was walking down the candy aisle of the supermarket, clipboard in hand, and checking things off as she saw them. "M&M's...check...Bubble gum...check...Milky Ways, Snickers...check...Hershey bars...check..." she said, as she checked things off. As she checked the inventory, one of Serena's employees, a Chinese girl named Nia Chen, ran up to her. "Serena!" she called. "What's up, Nia?" Serena asked, looking up from the clipboard. "I think you should know," Nia said, "that we're running out of everything in the pasta section. People are starting to complain." "Well," said Serena, "have you checked in back to see if there's any more in inventory?" "Uh, no." "Well, do that," she continued, "and if there ISN'T anymore, let me know and I'll put out an order for tomorrow. Okay?" "Thanks, Serena," Nia said, a smile on her face. "No prob," she said, turning back to the clipboard as Nia walked away. Serena continued checking things off on her list, walking down the aisle. She didn't even notice the woman walking up in front of her. "Excuse me," the woman said. "Serena?" Serena looked up at the woman addressing her. The woman was her height, wearing a white T-shirt, blue vest, and black pants, and with a head of aqua blue hair. The initials that were printed on the vest spelled out "A. A.". Serena eyes shot wide open when she realized who it was. "AMY!?!" she cried. "Amy Anderson, is that you?" Serena dropped her clipboard, and the two old friends echanged a hug. They pulled apart, and checked each other out. "Oh my god, Amy, you look fabulous!" Serena commented. "Thanks," Amy said back. "You look great yourself!" "What are you doing back in Tokyo?" Serena asked. "The least I'd heard from you, you got engaged to Mr. Wonderful, Greg!" Amy blushed and answered, "I decided to take a few weeks off of work and pay a surprise visit to the best friend I've ever had. We haven't seen or heard from each other in too long!" "Girlfriend, I couldn't agree with you more!" Serena replied. "So how are you?" "I'm great," she answered. "Things are going wonderfully in China with me and Greg. He sends his regards, by the way. You?" "Oh, things couldn't be better!" Serena said. "Everybody here in Tokyo is doing fine." "Well, why don't we discuss it over lunch?" Amy suggested. "I would Amy, I really would," she said, "but I've got to be here until 5:00. Why don't you stick around until then, and then we can both go surprise Raye! She is SO going to get a kick out of this!" Amy giggled and answered, "Sounds like a plan to me!"
*** 5:00 came, and as soon as it did, both Serena and Amy were in her car, headed for the Cherry Hill Temple to give Raye the biggest surprise she'd ever had. They parked outside the temple grounds, and slowly and quietly made their way in, trying as best they could not to disturb anyone or anything. "This is going to be so great!" Serena whispered. "Raye is going to be jumping for joy when she sees you!" "I know," Amy replied. "She hasn't seen me since the last time you did." They crept their way through the temple hallways, headed for where they thought their friend Raye Hino might be at the moment. They raced past open doors to rooms that had people in them, and quietly passed closed ones as well. They thought they had it pretty good, until they turned a corner, and bumped into someone. Serena went falling backwards, slamming into Amy, and sending them both to the floor in a two-person heap. The embarrassed pair looked up at the surprised individual they'd bumped into, who stared down at them. It was Chad. Both smiled sheepishly, waved and said, "Hi, Chad." "AM--" Chad began to, say, but before he could finish, Serena shot to her feet and covered his mouth. "Not so loud!" she whispered, uncovering it. "We're trying to surprise Raye; where is she?" "Meditating in the fire room," Chad answered. "Amy, how totally cool that you're here! Raye is so gonna love this!" "Thanks, Chad," Amy said politely. Serena kept creeping down the hall, with Amy and Chad close behind her. The three of them made their way to the fire room, where Chad silently opened up the door. Sure enough, sitting in front of a blazing hearth fire, locked in meditation, was the Sailor Scout of the planet Mars, Raye Hino. "You're sure she won't be angry that we're interrupting her meditation?" Amy asked. "Believe me, Ames," said Serena. "She'll forget all about it the instant she sees you!" The two slid through the door, and stood behind Raye, who obviously hadn't heard them. They waited for a minute or so to make sure Raye didn't notice them, then they both said aloud,: "HI, RAYE!!" Raye shot her eyes open and sprung to her feet, startled by the sudden greeting. She then hunched over in anger and began to turn around. "Serena!" she growled. "How many millions of times have I told you NOT to-- " She stopped when she saw the blue-haired girl standing next to Serena. The scowl on her face instantly turned into a smile. "AMY!" she cried. "My god, I can't believe it!" Amy and Raye wrapped their arms around each other, laughing. It was truly a happy occasion. The first three Inner Sailor Scouts were once again together.
*** Raye served up some tea and muffins for her friends, and they engaged each other in conversation. They talked for hours upon hours, for Raye hadn't seen Amy in the same amount of time that Serena had, which was a period of about four months. "So what's been going on?" asked Raye. "Not much of interest," Amy replied, sipping some tea. "The hospital can get pretty hectic at times, and things at home can be pretty crazy too, but Greg and I manage." "So how long have you two been engaged?" Amy looked over at a calender on the wall of the room, and say that the next day to be crossed out was June 14. She thought about the question for a minute. "13 months next Tuesday," she answered. "We haven't been able to afford a wedding yet, even on both our doctors salaries. Most of what we earn goes toward food, taxes, and the house payments." "Well, why don't you move into a cheaper place?" Serena suggested. "We would," she replied, "except we figure it'll cost us even more to move now, and then we're right back where we started when we first moved to Hong Kong. And besides, the house payments are the least of our worries. It's getting behind on our payments that worries us." "I'm sorry to hear things are so crazy," said Raye. "It's really no problem for us," Amy said. "Greg and I do what we can." "So where do you plan on staying?" Raye asked. Amy's eyes lit up in astonishment. "Now that I think about it, I'm not sure. I guess I can just rent a room at a hotel or something like that." Serena gulped down the rest of her tea and put her cup down. "Now way!" she exclaimed. "No friend of mine is staying in some over-priced Motel 6!" "Well, what would you suggest, Meatball Head?" Raye asked. "You can stay at MY place, Ames," Serena said. "I've got plenty of room. I've got an entire extra bedroom for you to sleep in, and I'm sure I can scrounge up some extra sheets and blankets too." "I wouldn't want to impose..." Amy began. "You? Impose? No way!" Serena replied. "Sorry, Serena," Raye joked, "but I highly doubt our friend the good doctor would want to spend her vacation risking her own mental health in that bottomless pit you call an apartment!" Serena turned to Raye and replied, "You've never even BEEN to apartment, so you can just zip it!" Amy shook her head in disgust and said to no one in particular, "Some things never change..." The two friends stopped their argument for a second. "Actually, Amy," said Raye, "you'd be surprised how much Serena's changed lately. The ditsy, clumsy, flaky Meatball Head you met ten years ago no longer exists!" "Well, she exists a LITTLE," said Serena, disregarding Raye's obvious insult. "So what do you say, Ames?" she asked. "A few weeks stay at Chateau Tsukino, free of charge on meals and room service?" Amy smiled and answered, "Sounds good to me!" Serena jumped to her feet, threw her hand in the air in excitement, and exclaimed, "GREAT!" she then looked down at Amy and asked, "Uh...what about your stuff. Your luggage, I mean?" Amy's face turned to a surprised expression. She blushed and grinned sheepishly. "Now that I think about it," she said, "I think I left all my luggage at the airport!" Serena and Raye both sweatdropped.
*** After their afternoon and early evening with Raye, Serena and Amy hopped in the car and went to the airport to pick up Amy's luggage. It took a little while to actually get in, because the security guard wouldn't let them past the metal detector. After about an hour of arguing with the tall, red- haired "gentleman", they finally made their way to the baggage claim, where Amy picked up two heavy blue suitcases, and a small handbag the same color.
After that, Serena and Amy drove back to her apartment where they intended to surprise Luna. Serena slowly unlocked and opened the door and looked in, with Amy hidden behind the wall. Serena surveyed the room, and noticed a black shape moving on the back of the recliner. It turned out to be Luna, who stretched, yawned, and looked at Serena. "Well look who finally decided to come home!" the cat said. "It's nearly 10:30!" "I know that, Luna," Serena said. "Aside from that...LOOK WHO I CAUGHT!!!" With that, Serena reached behind the wall, and pulled out the blue-haired woman hiding there. Amy blushed, smiled and waved. "Hi, Luna..." she said timidly. "Amy!" Luna exclaimed, jumping down from the recliner and running into Amy's arms. Amy hugged her tightly, Luna purring. She then jumped down to the floor and looked up at the two of them. "Oh, Amy, it's so good to see you! However did you find the time to get here all the way from Hong Kong?" Luna asked. "I just asked for a few weeks off, and my boss gave it to me!" Amy replied. "I can't stay away from Tokyo forever." "And what's even better," said Serena, "is that Amy's going to be staying with us in the extra bedroom while she's in town! Is that mega-cool or what?" "That's wonderful!" Luna cried. "How long are you going to be here, Amy?" "About a month," Amy replied. "Then I have to go back." "Only a month?" asked Serena. "Darn!" "I wish I could stay longer, but I just couldn't get the time off from work," Amy explained. "And I can't leave Greg at home all alone for that long!" "Well...?" said Luna. "Well, what?" asked Amy. "When are you two tying the knot?" Luna replied. "You've been engaged for at least a year now, and the wedding is LONG overdue!" "We would have done it a while ago," Amy answered, "but we can never seem to find the money to pay for it. Even though we're both doctors, our salaries simply can't pay for it all. We'd ask for raises, but we're both doing so well at the hospital, we don't want to ruin it." "That's too bad," said Serena. "Look, Ames, if you really needed the money, you should have come to me! I can go to my supervisors over at the market, and I'm sure they..." "Not another word, Serena!" Luna sharply cut in. "You've already told Raye you go to your bosses if those hoodlums broke anything at the temple! I seriously doubt after that they'll allow you to take the money you need for a whole WEDDING! Now enough of this borrowing money from your workplace to support your friends! You have enough trouble paying for this apartment as it is!" Instantly, Serena's eyes turned from blue to red. "And what is THAT supposed to mean!?!" she angrily snapped. "Since when have I had ANY trouble paying for this place, huh, tell me THAT!!! Everything in here was successfully paid for by ME! Yeah, that's right, ME!!! See that refrigerator? And all the food in it? Feel the air conditioning? See that TV, and cable box, and sofa, and EVERYTHING in here!?! I PAID FOR THAT, WITH MY MONEY!!! So don't YOU go telling ME about my so-called 'financial problems', missy!!!" Both Luna and Amy looked shocked at Serena. Luna toppled onto her side, the shocked expression still there. Meanwhile, Serena's eyes turned their normal color, and she looked at her blue-haired friend and her cat in surprise. "Whoa," she said. Serena and Amy both knelt down to Luna's petrified body. "Sorry, Luna," said Serena. "I've really worked by buns off to get where I am today, and get everything I have, and it really ticks me off when anyone says otherwise." "Think nothing of it..." the cat said. "I must say, Serena, you've really changed in the last few years. I really admire what you've done with your life, both at home and at your job. The girl I met ten years ago has certainly changed for the better. "Well, I'm flattered!" Serena said, blushing. "And I'm flattened!" a weary voice said. Both Amy and Serena looked down, and realized they were leaning on poor Luna! They pulled their hands away and smiled sheepishly. "Well, enough of that! Let me show you the extra bedroom where you'll be sleeping," said Serena. Serena took Amy into the hallway, and through a door, into an almost empty room, where she instantly turned on the lights. It was a bedroom, all right. The bed was bare, and the only other things in the room were a brown wood dresser and a mirror on the closet door. Besides that, there was a small window on the side of the room, looking out over the city. "Well, what do you think?" Serena asked. "It's nice," said Amy. "Empty, but nice." "Glad you like it, Ames," Serena replied. "While you unpack, I'll see if I can't find you some extra sheets and stuff. Okay?" "Okay." Serena left the room, while Amy retrieved her luggage and brought it into the room.
*** When Serena returned with the sheets, Amy was in the middle of unpacking her things. One of her suitcases and her bag had already been emptied, while the other suitcase lay half-empty on the bare bed. "Make yourself right at home," Serena said, as she entered the room. "Thanks," Amy replied, putting some clothes in the dresser. Serena surveyed the suitcase. Even though it was half-empty, it still looked like it alone had enough clothes to last at least three weeks. "Wow, how much stuff did you bring along?" Serena asked. "Plenty," Amy answered, "and a few extras, just to make the room look a little nicer." She told the truth, for on top of the dresser were several pictures of herself and Greg, and one of herself and Serena, along with the rest of the Inner Sailor Scouts. "Nice to know you brought a few momentos," Serena said. She put the extra sheets on the bed next to the suitcase, then sat down. She looked down at the contents of the suitcase, and noticed something out of the ordinary. It was a small, cylindrical, agua blue-colored object, with the shape of a star on the end of it. Serena's eyes widened when she realized what it was. "Hey!" she cried. "You still have your Mercury transformation wand!" Amy turned and took the wand out of the suitcase. "Well, of course I do!" she said. "I never go anywhere without. I keep on me at all times, to make sure I remember one of the best times of my life." "You consider your life as Sailor Mercury one of the best times of your life?" "Yes," Amy answered. "And so do Lita and Mina!" "Really?" "Oh, yes! Mina and Lita have told me themselves how they keep their wands, just to remind them of you and all the things we've gone through together!"
"They never told me that!" Serena said. "I'm surprised the haven't," Amy commented, examining the wand, the light of the room making it shine like a star. "They've told me several times. If my memory serves me correctly, Mina told me she turned hers into a keychain so she'll always have it with her." Serena thought about what her blue-haired friend had just told her, then walked out of the room. Amy curiously followed her. The two made their way to the living room, where Serena approached the bookcase. There, she pulled on the green book, and the secret display revealed itself and it contents; the Transformation Locket, the Crescent Moon Wand, the Moon Sceptor, and the Imperium Silver Crystal. Amy stared in awe at the display, eyes and mouth wide open. "This is amazing!" Amy said. "I had this made while I was in college, to always remind me of all we'd been through. Of you, Raye, Lita, Mina, and Darien. I never once imagined that you and the others did too!" Serena turned to the pictures on the wall next to the bookcase, to the photos of Amy, Raye, Lita, Mina, and the whole group. Serena grabbed the frame of each one and pulled it open like the door to a safe. Inside, hidden underneath the photos, were pictures of Serena's friends in their Sailor Scouts uniforms, all of them in their transformation poses. The one of the group had them all standing side by side, arms crossed, ready for a challenge. Finally, Serena pulled back the frame of the picture of herself and Darien, revealing a picture of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Moon giving her salute, and Tuxedo Mask holding rose and fighting cane.
"I always look at these pictures, and remember all the years of
fighting," Serena said. "And it feels good to know my friends do
too..." Amy put her hand on her blonde friend's shoulder, and they both looked at the display, and the photos.
*** A few days later, Serena was back at work at the supermarket. During the day, there were several customer rushes, several people had to leave in the middle of the day, and several products were sold out, but all in all, it was a typical day at the market for Serena. During the day, Serena called home to check up on Amy, just to see how she was doing. She was of course fine, having stimulating conversations with Luna, or just checking the place out. All morning long, all Serena could think about was having her lunch. She would have snacked on it a little, except it was in her locker on the other side of the store, and she couldn't leave her desk, which was covered in job application, which Serena had the displeasure of having to sort through, one by one. It amazed her at the number of people wanting to work at the market, compared to the number of people that actually DID when they were hired. Still, all Serena could think about was getting her lunch. Over the years of living alone in her spacious apartment, Serena had learned to become quite an exceptional cook. While nothing compared to what her friend Lita Kino could whip up, Serena's food still got applause all the same. It seemed like every five minutes Serena was looking up at the clock. She didn't know why today she was so anxious to get to her lunch break, and she didn't care, whether she was really hungry, or just wanted an excuse to get away from the job aplications. Finally, 12:00 rolled around, and Serena jumped out of her chair. She put the remainder of the applications in a stack, picked them up, opened the door of her office, and walked out. Little did she know, however, that after he walked out...someone else walked IN... Serena walked across the aisle, towards one of her employees, a brown- haired high school student named Josh. He had gotten a part-time job at the market, and worked there when he wasn't swamped with homework. Serena couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "Been there, done that," she'd tell him. Today, she headed in his direction and called out his name. "Hey, Josh!" The brown haired boy turned in her direction, and she handed him the rest of the job applications. "Could you do me a favor and take care of the rest of these for me?" she asked. "I've been waiting for lunch all morning!" "Sure thing," he said. "I know what it feels like. It seems like four hours seems like four centuries, huh?" "You got it," she said, walking past him. "And thanks!" She headed to the other side of the building, to a wall of lockers. She fingered past some of them, and found hers. She opened it up, and gasped at what she saw. Nothing. The locker was empty. Someone had TAKEN her lunch. Serena stared in disbelief at the empty locker, then walked back through the store, grumbling to herself. Not only did she now NOT have a lunch, but she knew she didn't have enough money on her to buy herself lunch from the local fast-food place. She walked back through the door of the office, and then stared wide-eyed at what she saw sitting on her desk. On the desk was what looked like a hot, freshly made meal, fully set up, complete with chopsticks, grilled chicken, fried rice, and a side of steamed vegetables. Just the sight and smell of it made Serena's mouth water. But she couldn't for the life of her figure out HOW it got there! "What the--" she said. "How in the world...? "You've been brownbagging way to long, Serena!" a familiar voice said. Serena whirled around to see a tall, black silhouette leaning in the doorway. She walked into the light of the office and revealed herself. She was tall, that was for sure, with long brown hair that was tied in a thick ponytail in the back of her head, held togther by a green, beaded scrunchie. Serena's eyes widened even more. "Oh my god, LITA!!!" she cried, running into the girl's arms. The two exchanged a long hug, and they pulled apart. "Oh my god, Lita, what are you doing here?" Serena asked. "Visiting you, silly!" Lita replied. "I decided to take a few weeks off to come see one of my best friends!" "That is...that is just BEYOND incredible!" Serena commented. "Does Raye know you're here?" "Oh yeah!" Lita answered. "The temple was closest to the airport, so I went over and visited her first." Suddenly, from behind the wall, Raye Hino walked out and revealed herself. "And we decided to surprise you," she said, "to get you back for the shock you gave me when you brought Amy over!" "Well, now we're even!" Serena replied, then squealed with joy. "OOOH! I can't wait to tell Amy about THIS!" "Actually, we beat you to it," said Lita. "We called her from the temple. You should have heard her scream with joy when she heard my voice on the phone!" "Oh sure, ruin the surprise for me!" Serena complained. "But...this is just absolutely the weirdest week of my life! TWO of my best friends come back to Tokyo? Wow, that is just so COOL!" "You're telling me!" said Lita. "You should have seen my face when Raye told me that Amy was in town too!" "I'll just guess for now!" said Serena. "I'd offer you a place to stay, except I already gave Amy my only spare room!" "Oh, no problem," said Lita. "Raye offered me a room back at the temple." "Oh, good," said Serena. "HEY! Why don't we all have dinner at my place?" "That sounds great!" Raye cried. "You got the food, I can cook it up!" said Lita. "Oh, no." Serena argued. "You just flew all the way from Louisiana, and you already made me this great meal; there's no way I'm going to make you cook dinner for four people!" "Well who's going to cook, if not me?" asked Lita. "Yeah, you?" joked Raye. "As a matter of fact," Serena said, through clenched teeth, "I happen to have become an exceptional cook myself! Living alone for the last several years has forced me to learn a few things on my own! I can cook up anything either of YOU could! Plus, I've got this nice big fold-out table for everyone to sit at! Sound okay?" "Sounds all right to me," said Lita. "It's a dinner date!" said Raye.
*** That very night, the foursome joined together at Serena's apartment. Serena cooked up a fabulous meal, even though Lita couldn't help but want to give her a hand in the preparation of the food, but soon gave up her efforts, as Serena refused to accept help. They all sat down at the table and ate it entirely, talking about old times, new times, what was going on in their lives, and complementing Serena on her surprisingly good cooking talents. "I just gotta say, Serena," said Raye, "I love what you've done with this place! I don't think I've been over here since you first moved in!" "Thanks, Raye," she replied. "That means a lot coming from you." "And kudos on the food!" said Lita. "Even without my help, this stuff is great!" "Complements to the chef!" Amy declared, holding up her glass. Raye and Lita did the same. Serena blushed. "Thanks, you guys," she said, smiling. "Y'know if this was ten years ago, you'd all be complaining at me!" "Well, a lot's changed in the last decade," said Raye. "You're a lot more serious about things, you're responsible, you're holding a steady job, you're a lot cleaner when it comes to you're living habits..." "You financial habits have changed too," said Amy. "You know exactly what to do with your money; you don't waste it on junk food or video games like you used to." "Thanks," Serena said, blushing even more. It wasn't often she heard her friends talking about her like this, and it made her feel good about herself. But she couldn't help but wish some things were like they used to be. She sighed. "Is something wrong, Serena?" asked Lita. "Wha-?" she said suddenly. "Oh, oh, nothing, Lita...just...reminiscing..." "What about?" "Oh, all the things we've been through together," Serena explained. "All this talk about how I've changed over the years...kind of makes me wish I could go back to ten years ago...and go through it all over again...You even feel like that?" "Oh, all the time!" Lita said. "I still remember that day I saved you from that tough-guy gang, and then I nearly blew my top at you when we saw each other at school that day!" Serena smiled. She noticed Lita reach into her shirt, and take something green from her pocket. Serena looked up at it. It was Lita's Jupiter Transformation Wand. "I look at this thing every day and wonder what it would be like to live it all over again." she said. Serena looked at the other two sitting at the table. She saw both Amy and Raye reach into their pockets and take out their transformation wands too. The light of the room reflected on them like multi-colored mirrors. "You see, Serena," said Amy. "Lita, Raye, and I still keep our wands, just to remember you and everyone else." With that, Serena got up from the table, and walked over to her bookcase. All three of her friends followed her over there. Serena then revealed to them the secret display case, holding the four relics of Sailor Moon. Raye and Lita gasped at the sight, while Amy, having seen it before, simply smiled. "This is so cool!" Lita exclaimed. "Cool is such an understatement!" said Raye. "Serena, you never told me about this!" "I really didn't think I needed to." said Serena. "I had it made while I was in college. My roommate was a major in woodworking and mechanical engineering, so I asked her to build it for, complete with the hidden display. Fortunately, she gladly built it for me, no questions asked. I've kept it a secret ever since. Only a few people know about this, now including you guys, Mina, Darien, and the Four Sisters." "Wow..." said Raye. Then, she looked to the right of the bookcase, at all the pictures of the former Scouts, and finally at the picture of Serena and Darien. She gasped, then turned to her Meatball Headed friend. "Oh my god, I am so sorry, Serena!" she exclaimed. "In all this time, I haven't even mentioned Darien's name! How is he?" "Oh, he's fine!" Serena said, disregarding Raye's strange apology. "He's doing great over in New York, and he keeps telling me he'll come visit as soon as he can." With answering Raye's question, Serena couldn't help but remember the time soon after they met; Raye met Darien for the second time, and she found out about his interest in the martial arts, and she almost instantly fell in love with him. The relationship never went anywhere, because Darien had once admitted to his friend Andrew, "I can't even stay interested for five minutes!" The only exception to this was of course Serena, and possibly Serena's "friend" Ann. As they continued the conversation, they were suddenly cut off as the sound of the door opening caught everyone's attention. Serena stared wide-eyed at the door as it opened slightly. What surprised her about this was, she distinctly remembered LOCKING the door when she came in. She knew she had given keys to her apartment, to all of the former Sailor Scouts and Darien...so this could only be one of two people... Just then, the head of a blonde-haired girl peeped in the door. The golden- yellow hair flowed behind her, with a red bow in the back of her head. "Is it safe to come in?" a familiar voice timidly said. Everyone grew wide-eyed when they realizes who it was. Serena, Raye, and Amy all cried out, "MINA!?!" The blonde girl completely walked in the door, fully revealing herself. She wore a blue T-shirt, covered in a white vest, accompanied by a pink skirt and white shoes. No doubt about it; it was Mina Aino. "Hi everybody!" she said, waving. Lita chuckled, and walked up next to Mina. "Oh, and I forgot to tell you guys," she said, "that I met Mina at the airport as I was getting off my plane. We both decided to surprise everyone!!" "Oh...my...god..." said Serena, mouth hanging wide open. "Mina! How on earth did you get here!?!" "I hopped on a plane and flew here, silly!" she said, smiling. "You know what she means, smarty!" Raye said. "How did you find time out of your busy schedule to get your butt over here? I'm surprised you're not swamped with your prestiguous acting career to make the time to see your friends!" "Oh, puh-lease!" Mina snorted. "I've been trying to make the time to get here for the least six, no, my mistake, SEVEN months!!! Even during the short time that I was actually IN Japan at all!" "Whoa..." said Serena. "This is...this is...oh my god, this is just beyond words!!! All of my best friends coming back to Tokyo at almost the SAME TIME!!! This is just SO cool!" "You're telling me!" said Lita. "I had no idea I would meet Mina at the airport, just as I was getting off my plane! You all should have seen the looks on our faces when we saw each other!" "Cool!" Serena cried. "The Inner Scouts are reunited!" "This is, needless to say, quite a surprise," said Amy. "The chances of all three of us coming back to Tokyo at the same time are gastronomical!" "Well," Mina said. "Let's stop talking about how weird all of this is! How are you guys?"
*** During that delightful evening at Serena's apartment, all five of them talked about old times, and what was to come in the future. Mina was in the works of a new Sailor V movie, and was currently dating a fellow actor, who was to play Tuxedo Mask in the movie. Serena snorted at this, stating there was no one to replace the REAL Tuxedo Mask. Mina couldn't help but agree, but she still thought the guy was cute (and the feeling was mutual). Now, Mina, Lita, and Amy were roaming around the old town, seeing old friends, visiting the Four Sisters (with a stop at the arcade so Lita could check out Andrew), and other stuff, while Serena had to go back to work. As much as she hated the idea of doing that while her friends were out having a good time, she knew she had to work, and there was no getting around that. The others (except Raye, who'd seen the change firsthand) were astounded to see her loyalty to her responsibilities. That very day, Serena rushed in the door of her apartment, and slammed it behind her. She was VERY glad to be home. It had been what you would call "one of those days". She was understaffed the whole day, and things were busy, busy, busy, which was a normal yet still overwhelming thing at the supermarket. Serena then plopped down in her black leather recliner. She looked around the room. She realized she hadn't cleaned up the table from last night's dinner party, and she needed to do some dusting. "Hard day?" Luna's voice asked. Serena looked at the arm of the chair, and standing on the leather and over Serena's arm was the talking black cat. "Oh, y'know," she replied, "Little staff, lots of customers, one of those days." "I see," said Luna. "Well, it must fell good to be home." "You're telling me," said Serena. "If I had to stay at that market a second longer, I swear, the scream I would have made would shatter the windows for a three-mile ratius!" "Obviously an exaggeration," said Luna, "but definitely what anyone in your position would feel." "Who died and made you my psychologist?" said Serena, actually lifting up her head to glare at the cat. "Just commenting," said Luna, who then jumped off the arm of the chair, and started walking towards the open window, and jumped onto the windowsill. "Where do you think you're going, Luna?" asked Serena. Luna, looked back at her and smiled, then replied, "I told Artemis I'd meet him in a few hours. We're going for a night on the town!" "You two have fun," said Serena, remembering the close relationship Luna and Artemis had years ago, and in fact still had. Some would say they were as close as Serena and Darien were. After Luna left, Serena lay her head back in the chair, and thought of her beloved boyfriend, Darien Shields. She remembered countless times she's bumped into him (or vice versa) on the street, and they would get into an argument, which almost always ended in Darien walking away laughing, leaving a fuming mad Serena behind. Only a few times had Serena ever had the upper hand and made Darien angry, and even then it wasn't as satisfying for her as it was for him. As she reminisced, she slowly closed her eyes and started to fall asleep. It had been a long, tiring day for her, so this wasn't very surprising. She did sleep, for several hours. By the time she had opened her eyes again, the sun was nothing more than a flaming red inferno peeking out from behind the Tokyo skyline. "Oy," Serena thought. "How long have I been asleep?" She looked up at the clock on the wall. It said it was almost 7:30. "Two hours?" she thought. "Not bad, compared some of my other 'mid-day' naps." Serena lay her head back on the chair, and closed her eyes again, ready to go back to sleep. She almost did to... ...Until she heard the creaking. Serena's eyes shot open, and she realized the sound was coming from the door. She sat up and turned around to look at the door, and watched as it suddenly blew shut, after somehow being opened! Serena could swear she felt a breeze in the room, then looked at the window, which was still open. She sighed. "Must be the wind," she thought. She got up out of the recliner, walked over to window and shut it, then sat back down the chair. She was about to go back to sleep again, when suddenly, she heard it again. The unmistakeable sound of a door slowly opening. Serena shot open her eyes again, and looked to the door. It was now hanging open. Serena cautiously got up out of the recliner, and crept over to the door. She pulled it open further than it already was, and poked her head out, looking into the hallway, only to find it was completely vacant. No doors were open besides hers, not even the elevator, and there were no people in the hall, minus her head. Serena pulled her head back into the room and looked around, to find that besides her, there was no one to be seen. Serena closed the door and calmly walked back to her recliner and took a seat. "I've been working way too hard,..." she thought to herself, closing her eyes again. And she would have believed this...that is, until she saw the rose. Serena's eyes shot open again, and she stared down in surprise at the red rose, stuck stem-first into the arm of the black leather chair. Serena cautiously grabbed the rose by its green stem, and plucked it from the leather. She stared at it wide-eyed, examining the beautiful flower mysteriously left for her to find after being so conveniently distracted from her seat. After a few minutes of examination and wondering, the look on Serena's face slowly turned from wide-eyed and open-mouthed, to eyes half-closed and smiling. She recognized this "trademark". Serena got up from the chair, and slowly back away from it, moving slowly into a dark area of the room, concealed in shadow, with nothing immediately noticable that didn't exactly belong there. Serena stood with her back to the shadows, still smiling. And even though she didn't see it, she could tell there was a tall, black shape standing behind her... Just then, Serena outstretched her left arm, and balled her hand into a fist. She then, in less than a split-second, she thrust back her elbow, into the shadow of the room. In return, one short, loud sound was made coming right from the shadow: "OOF!!!" Serena turned and backed away from the shadow, and watched as the black shape stumbled forward, clutching its belly with its right hand. As the shape stepped into the light, Serena could clearly see who it was. Dressed in a black tuxedo, white dress shirt and bow tie, a black and red cape flowing behind him. The head was covered in dark black hair, and over his eyes, he wore a white mask, but even through it, Serena could see the man's dark, dark blue eyes looking at her. "Y'know, Darien," said Serena, trying her hardest not to laugh hysterically, "If you wanted to scare me half to death, you could have at least suddenly jumped in through the window!" The man stood up straight, and removed his mask, revealing himself as Serena's beloved boyfriend, Darien Shields. "There's just something about sneaking in through the front door that I find more satisfying," he replied. Serena smiled at him, dropped the rose, then ran into Darien's arm, squealing with joy. Darien swung her around and kissed her on the lips. He finally set her down on her feet, and they pulled away from each other. Serena then lay her head on Darien's chest. "Oh, Darien," she said, "you have NO idea how much I've missed you!" "Oh, don't I?" he asked. "How can I not know when I've missed you just as much?" Serena looked up and kissed him lightly on the lips, and stared into his dark blue eyes, while he stared into hers. "How did you find the time to get your butt over here, anyway?" she demanded. "When something important to you," Darien answered, "you make the time for it! And if it's as important as coming to Tokyo to see the woman I love, then finding the time is well worth it!" "How sweet," she said. "Oh you you are not going to believe this! Amy, Lita, AND Mina are ALL in town as we speak!" "I know," said Darien. "I saw them all walking down the street on my way over here. I followed them for a while because I thought you were with them, but when I found out you weren't, I made my way here. So that's why it took me so dang long to get here." "What time did you get into town?" "About, oh, 6:30," he answered. Serena simply hugged him even tighter. "Oh, I am so glad to see you!" she said. "Not as glad as I am to see you, Meatball Head!" Darien said. "I've been planning this trip for over six weeks! Seeing you is the highlight of my life, and it always will be!" "How long are you going to be in town this time?" Serena eagerly asked. "This time, about a month," he replied. "Only a month?" Serena whined. "That's too bad. I wish you stay longer than that." Darien smiled, and pushed her away so he could look into her bright blue eyes. "Then I've got some news you're going to LOVE," he said. "What do you mean?" she asked. Darien smiled even more. "Well?" Serena asked impatiently. "What is it?" "I'm moving back to Tokyo!" he finally said. Serena's eyes grew wide, and her smile did the same. "Your WHAT!?!" "I moving back!" Darien said. "Isn't that just great?" "Great!?!" Serena cried. "That's a total understatement!" She jumped into his arms again, and Darien swung her around, laughing. "It's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard in my life!" "I see you approve," said Darien. "I already applied for a job over at Tokyo General. They saw my record, and Andrew made a HUGE recommendation to them about me when I called him from my plane." "That's excellent!" Serena cried. "I can't believe you're moving back here! When's the move?" "Well, after I get back to New York, I'm going to work there another month, pack up my stuff in the meantime, then transport all my stuff to Tokyo." "Don't tell me you're doing all this just because of me!" said Serena. "Of course it's for you!" Darien answered. "Serena, I need to be near you. I love you. I've always loved you, and I always will love you. Our relationship has gone through a lot in the last ten years, and I can't let a distance of 2,000 miles ruin that. I want to be here, in Tokyo, with you, to make sure we stay together for as long as we live." Serena was truly touched. She looked up lovingly into his dark blue eyes. "Oh, Darien..." she said. They reached for each other, and they kissed each other, holding each other affectionately for a long, long time.
*** That very evening, all the former Sailor Scouts saw Darien at Serena's apartment, and were just as surprised as she was. That night, they simply sat in the living room, doing nothing but non-stop talking. Any and every topic of conversation they could think of was discussed. "It's so cool you're moving back to Tokyo, Darien," commented Raye. "I know," said Darien. "Well, I think it' cool," said Mina, "that you care anough about Serena to travel over 2,000 miles just to be with her." "And why shouldn't I?" said Darien. "I need to be around her. Tokyo's where I've lived my whole life, and if Serena's still here, then I want to be here with her." Serena cuddled next to him affectionately even closer, then sighed. Darien looked down at her, with a semi-worried look on his face. "Something wrong?" he said. "What?" she said, looking up a him. "Oh, heck no. Nothing could possibly wrong right now. It's just..." "What?" "Well,..." she said. "It's just that...I can't help but fell something weird about all this...I mean, all of us being back in Tokyo at the same time? Doesn't something just feel a little...off?" "Sure, it's a little strange," said Amy. "But what's so bad about it?" "Yeah, Serena," said Darien. "It's probably just a big coincidence." Serena smiled at him, and replied, "Yeah...I guess you're right..." Or is he? It seems all the former Sailor Scouts are living their lives happily, and Serena's never seen them more content in their lives. And with the news of Darien's return to Tokyo is simply overwhelming. But how long can it last?
Chapter 1
"Reunited and It Feels so Good"
Serena Tsukino opened the door of her apartment, walked in, and slammed the door behind her. She then walked into the middle of the living room and plopped into a black leather recliner. She slouched deep into it, the material feeling good against her body. "Whew!" she huffed. "I am SO glad to be home!" As she spoke, a black, furry object on the floor suddenly stirred. Two ears perked up, two eyes opened, a long tail appeared, and soon the black object got up and stretched, revealing itself to be a cat. It's head, with a yellow crescent moon on the forehead, turned towards Serena. "Oh, it's you," said Luna. "How was your day?" "Oh, your typical day at the supermarket," said Serena. "Not enough people at the registers, constantly running out of supplies, a few costumers complaining about our 'ridiculous' prices, that kind of thing." Serena slouched deeper into the black leather recliner. "I'm glad to be home..." she finished. "Good to know you still enjoy your job," Luna joked. "Oh, be quiet," Serena returned. "Is it me, or is it hot in here?" "I think it is," the cat answered. Serena got up out of the chair, walked to the side of the room, and flipped a switch on a gray panel on the wall. A whirring sound was heard, and the room almost instantly began to feel a few degrees cooler. Serena plopped back into the recliner, and sighed happily as the cool air flowed through the room and around her body. She then looked to the side of the room, into the kitchen area. She could see several dishes peeking out over the top of the sink. Serena sank into the chair and sighed. "Uuuugh..." she complained. "I've got to do the dishes again..." Probably the only thing Serena disliked about her apartment was, for a living area of such size, the only thing it didn't have was a dishwasher! Serena had to wash her dishes by hand when her sink was full, and it seemed like it was getting full quicker and quicker every time. Serena would have gone out and bought a dishwasher, however, number 1, she couldn't afford one at the moment, and number two, she didn't know WHERE to buy one. Luna would have helped her find one, but in this matter she was just as clueless as Serena. So for the moment, they both had to deal with hand washing. "Any calls for me?" Serena asked. "No," answered Luna. "The phone's been very silent today." "Anything at all of interest?" "No." "In that case," said Serena, getting up from the chair, "I'm going to go lie down for a while; it's been a long day, and I need a rest." "Whatever you say," the cat said, laying her head back on the floor between her front paws, and closing her eyes. As Serena walked through the room and towards her bedroom door, Luna perked her head up again and asked, "Anything good in the mail today?" Serena froze in her tracks, then groaned. "Uuuuh...I forgot to pick up the mail. I'll be right back." She turned and rushed through the front door, closing it behind her. Luna put her head back on the floor and closed her eyes again. However, no sooner had she done so then she heard the unmistakable sound of Serena screaming, followed by a loud THUD, as if someone had just clumsily fallen on her face. Luna shook her head in disgust and said, "Some things never change..."
*** Several days later, it was Saturday, which meant Serena had the weekend off. On days like these, Serena liked to just walk through the city she lived in, say hello to people she knew, and just plain enjoy her time off from work. Today, she walked through the streets of Tokyo, down the sidewalk, through crowds of people. After about an hour of walking, Serena sat down on a sidewalk bench and rest there. "Whew!" she puffed. "I needed that!" She sunk into the bench and looked around. She saw several young, happy couples walking up and down the street, hand in hand. Serena watched them and smiled. She watched one in particular, and imagined the two of them as herself and Darien. Serena sighed. She felt very comfortable in her surroundings. The cool breeze compensated for the warm summer weather, evening things out perfectly. She felt so comfortable here, that she almost didn't hear someone suddenly call... "HEY, MEATBALL HEAD!!" Serena perked up her head and looked to her right, at the source of the call. Even before she could clearly see who it was who called to her , she could tell from the fact that, number one, Darien wasn't in town, and, number 2, it was a female voice, that it could only be one person. At the end of the street, Serena saw two people walking towards her. One was a female, slightly taller than Serena, with long violet-black hair. The other was a man, even taller than the first, with brown hair that almost came down over his eyes. "Hi, Raye!" Serena cheerfully called. "Hey, Chad!" "Hey, Serena," said Raye. "How've you been?" "Oh, great," Serena answered. "Things couldn't be better over at the market. How are things at the temple?" "Unfortunately," said Raye, the smile gone from her face, "things could be better." Serena stopped smiling and looked worried at her long-time friend. "Really?" she asked. "What's wrong?" Raye continued, "Lately, we've been having some trouble with a certain group of teenagers that have been hanging around the temple. They've been acting as stupid as humanly possible!" "You're going to have to be more specific, Raye," said Serena. "By your logic, I can act as stupid as humanly possible." "What I mean," Raye continued, "is that they've been causing all sorts of trouble." "It's, like, your basic gang of hoodlums," Chad explained. "They harass the visitors, they swear, they fight,..." "They even smoke!" Raye broke in. Serena cringed anf grimaced. "Eew!" she said. "Why would anyone want to do that to their body?" "Beats us," said Chad. "Once we even caught in the back with a bunch of spray paint! We chased them away each time they started anything, and they threatened us a few times too when we did." "And after that thing with spray cans, they started throwing rocks at the windows!" Raye said. "I don't believe it!" Serena said. "Was anything broken?" "Fortunately, no," said Chad. "It's a good thing the temple doesn't have that many windows to break!" "It'll be bad enough if they break any windows," said Raye. "If they break anything on the inside, it'll be war, let me tell you! Someone of that stuff is priceless, and irreplaceable! If anything happened to any of that stuff, Grandpa would roll over in his grave!" "Well, I'm sorry to hear about all that," said Serena. "Look, if you two need anything to pay for those windows, I'm sure I can talk to my supervisors, and they can get you some extra money to..." "Thanks, Serena," said Raye, with a smile, "but I doubt your market will want to spend the extra money just on some stupid local temple." "Oh please!" Serena returned. "The market has trouble with hoodlums day in and day out! Hardly a day goes by without some juvenile delinquent causing me some trouble. And as for the money, my supervisors couldn't care less about lending it to ME! I'm always under budget every month anyway, so they have the extra funds. If you guys need it, I can get it for you, I swear!" Raye was taken aback by this. Never in her life had she seen Serena with such a humanitarian attitude. She and Chad both smiled. "Thanks, Meatball Head!" said Raye. "It could help us a lot, but I won't call you unless it gets really serious." "Well, call me if there's anything else I can do to help. I don't like seeing my friends in trouble." "We will," Raye said, then glanced at her watch. "We need to get back to the temple and make sure that gang didn't break in and steal anything. See you later, Meatball Head!" Raye turned and took Chad with her. They both waved, then walked away. Serena waved back, then sat back in her chair and sighed happily. Things had definitely changed between her and Raye in the last ten years. She was happy with the way their relationship went, and was glad to see Raye as content as she was. Not only that she was the head priestess at her own temple, but that she had Chad as well. Even though Raye wouldn't admit it to anyone, Serena knew Raye felt the same way about Chad that he did about her. But it wasn't Serena's job to bring them together; she knew eventually Raye herself would do that. Serena looked at the time, then got up and continued her walk.
*** Serena continued through the city. About an hour later, she found herself outside the video arcade and ice cream parlor, which was now turned into a full-fledged restaurant. Serena, feeling particularly hungry, decided to get herself some lunch. She walked in and surveyed the scene. The lines at the counter were short, so she didn't have to wait long to make her order. At several tables, she saw young couples sharing ice cream together, and it made Serena reminisce about times she's spent here with Darien. Despite her reputation of having a carniverous appitite, Serena went light on the lunch, that is, compared to her normal diet. She ordered a double hamburger, fries, and a chocolate milkshake. She ate them at a normal rate, not scarfing them down in a millisecond, and actually stopped to enjoy the taste of the food in her mouth. After she finished the burger and fries, she slowly slurped down her milkshake, watching the couples, people making their orders. She was so engrossed in watching them, she didn't even notice the tall, blonde-haired man walk up to her and say: "Hey, Serena! Long time no see." Serena turned her head towards the voice and got a good look at the man. He wore blue jeans, a light blue shirt, and a white apron. He was leaning against booth she sat in, with a small glass of water in one hand, the other in his pocket. Serena's eyes lit up, and she smiled. "Hi, Andrew!" she cried. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you around here in a while! How are you?" "I'm fine," he said. "Things were a little hectic at the hospital, but I finally got some time off for all the hours I've been working lately. How are things for you?" "Okay, I guess," she said. "How are Chad and Raye?" "Could be better," Serena answered. "They've been having a lot of trouble with this one group of teenagers..." Andrew shook his head in disgust. "They're having problems with that gang of hoodlums too, huh?" he asked. "What do you mean?" "We've had trouble with those kids too," Andrew explained. "They've been coming here often, harassing the customers, kicking the machines around, even trying to steal quarters out of the change machine!" Serena shook her head. "I had no idea me and Raye and Chad weren't the only ones having trouble with those kids!" she commented. "Oh yeah," he said. "Everyone in the neighborhood has trouble with these guys. And when they're out of this neighborhood, they harass the people in the area they ARE in." "Kind of makes you think some teenagers are going through some mental disease, doesn't it?" "You got it," he said. "It makes me sick every time I have to chase thosekids away from the arcade." "Well enough about that," said Serena. "What's new with you?" "Not much," Andrew said. "We haven't gotten any new machines in a while, and the customers are starting to complain." Serena smiled, then looked behind him. The edge of the arcade was at least twenty feet from where the two of them were, and there didn't seem to be anyone supervising things in the area. She looked back up at Andrew. "Isn't your supervisor going to be angry that you're away from your post?" she asked. Andrew chuckled, then answered, "Serena, I am the supervisor!" "Really!?" "Yep," he said. "Just got promoted a few weeks ago." "That's great!" Serena said. "Now we're both the bosses of our own business!" "That's right," he said. He held up his glass of water. "Here's to being the boss!" "I'll drink to that," Serena said. She raised her milkshake, and "clinked" it against his glass. He took a sip of water, and she continued slurping down the shake. They both then put down their beverages. "So how's Darien?" Andrew asked. "I know you two keep in touch." "Oh, he's fine," she said. "Things are going great in New York for him." "That's good to hear," he said. "Have YOU heard from him at all?" Serena asked. "He's YOUR friend too, you know." "Oh, of course!" he answered. "He gives me a call every once in a while. We talk about old times, what's going on now, we make a few prank calls..." The smile faded from Serena's face, and she stared wide-eyed at him. "I'm kidding, Serena."
*** After lunch and her conversation with Andrew, Serena left the arcade and continued her walk. Sometimes, on days like these, she liked to walk aimlessly, just for the fun of seeing where she'd end up. Today was such a day, in which she didn't much care where she was going, as long as she was enjoying herself in the process. And she was having fun, which was all that mattered to her. She made her way down the street, past groups of people, shops, stores, malls, etc. She was oblivious to anything going on around her at the moment, paying little attention to even the direction she was going in. Unfortunately, it was this that made her bump into someone as she turned a corner. Both Serena and the mystery person let out a loud "OOF!", then fell to the ground, the packages the person carrying getting scattered around the area they were in. Serena slowly got up, her back to the person she'd bumped into. "Whoa!" Serena said. "I am so sorry!" "No, it's my fault..." the person said, in a very familar voice. At the sound of the voice, Serena turned around to get a look at the person she'd bumped into. She was picking up her packages. She was a small woman, a little under Serena's size, with long, wavy, dark purple hair. The woman looked up and smiled at Serena. Serena smiled back when she realized who it was. "Catsy!" she said. "I am so sorry, I didn't know it was you!" "Hi, Serena!" Catsy said back. "How are you?" "Oh, I'm great!" she said. "How are you and your sisters?" "Oh, they're fine," said Catsy. "Sorry I knocked all your stuff out of your hands," said Serena, bending down to help her with the packages. "What is all this stuff, anyway?" "Just some extra inventory," Catsy said. "I'm the youngest sister, so Birdie, Avary, and Prisma make ME run all the errands. Whether it's getting more eyeshadow or just taking the day's income to the bank, I'm always the one to run out and do something for THEM!" "Sorry to hear that," said Serena, handing Catsy some of the packages. "Let me help you carry these in; it's my fault you lost 'em." "Thanks, Serena, but I got 'em," Catsy replied, taking the last of the packages from her. They both then stood up. Serena looked towards the white building, up at the sign of the front of it. It read, in gold and silver letters, in cursive writing, "SISTERS' SECRETS". "Wow," Serena said. "I didn't even realize I was walking by the cosmetics shop." "Well, I guess it's just one of those places you run into," Catsy said. "So how are Chad and Raye?" "Could be better," Serena said. "Hoodlum problems." "Them too? That's too bad." she said, then smiled mischievously. "How's DARIEN?" Serena blushed. "He's fine." "So do you want to come in for a few minutes?" Catsy asked. "My Sisters would love to see you, and we just got some great new products!" Serena was about to answer, when she saw a large clock on a lamp post behind Catsy. It was about 7:30 P.M. "I'd love too, Catsy," she finally answered, "but I've got to get home. Luna's probably wondering where I am. Maybe next time, though." Suddenly, a voice behind both of them called out, "Hey, Catsy! How about getting that stuff in here sometime today, huh?" They both turned to the white building, and poking her head out of a glass door was a woman with icy blue hair spun into a braid in the back of her head. It was Catsy's older sister, Birdie. "I gotta go too," said Catsy. "I'll see you 'round." "See ya!" Serena called as she walked away, meanwhile waving to Birdie, who politely waved back, a smile on her pretty face. Serena sighed happily. She was glad she knew so many people who she could really call friends. Raye, Chad, Andrew, Catsy and the other Sisters...it made her feel very good about herself. Realizing Luna would be upset if Serena got home late, she hailed a taxi and headed for home.
*** Serena walked in the door of her apartment and dropped into the leather recliner in the middle of her living room. She sighed and smiled to herself, then leaned back in the chair. Meanwhile, Luna was getting up off the floor, and jumped on the back of the recliner, looking down on Serena. "You must have had quite a day," said Luna. "You're not ususally back this late from your weekend walks." "Well, I walked a long way," Serena replied. "Plus, I got to talk to Raye, Chad, Andrew, and Catsy along the way." "Well, that's nice to hear," Luna said. "How are they?" "They're fine," she said. "They're all having problems with that gang of hoodlums, but otherwise they're just dandy." "That's good." the cat said, with a yawn, as she lay her head down and went to sleep. Serena sighed again, and the smile faded from her face. Talking to all these friends she'd made in the past made her wish things were like they used to be; Raye bickering with her non-stop, Amy scolding her about schoolwork habits, Darien teasing her every time they met. She got up out of the recliner, and walked over to a bookcase on the right side of the room. She stood in front of it, and pulled on a green-covered book. However, as soon as she pulled it, it pulled back, and a section of the bookcase, made to look like a row of books, turned around on a axel. The section of the bookcase made a full 180-degree turn, revealing a hidden glass display case, that opened up and popped out. Serena looked at the contents of the display, with thoughts of the past running through her head. On the inside of the case, four old relics of the past were displayed. One, Serena's original transformation locket, given to her by Luna to transform into Sailor Moon when her life as the champion of justice began. It had been restored, even after its mysterious destruction years ago. Another, the Crescent Moon Wand, used by her when Zoycite began looking for the Rainbow Crystals, and what she'd used to turn monsters back into humans again. A third, the Moon Sceptor, given to her by her mother Queen Serenity, after she went into a mental coma during a fight with one of Allan and Ann's Cardian monsters. It was what she used thereafter to destroy the Cardians, heal the Doom Tree, and defeat the droids of the Four Sisters and the rest of the Black Moon Family. And the fourth, displayed in front of the other three, was the Imperium Silver Crystal, formed by the seven Rainbow Crystals when Tuxedo Mask had been injured, and what revealed Serena as the Moon Princess, and the past she'd led over a thousand years earlier. Serena stared at these relics in awe, remembering all the times she'd transformed into her alter ego to save her friends and family from some intergalactic demon. To the right of the bookcase, several photographs were framed and hanging on the wall. Serena turned her attention from the display to these photos, and looked at them one by one. They were pictures taken of Amy, Raye, Lita and Mina, and a larger one of the entire group, including Serena. She looked at all of them, remembering... She looked at Amy's photo, and remembered when she'd first moved to Tokyo, and transferred to Crossroads Junior High. Some of Serena's friends were gossiping about her, and Serena decided to get to know her herself. However, their first conversation got off to a bad start when... "Melvin told me that you said I would be a total snob!" Amy had said. Serena laughed nervously, blushed, and replied, "Oh, he did, did he? Uh...look, that was all just gossip; none of us meant a word of it!" Serena looked at Raye's picture, and remembered when a bunch of transport busses were disappearing from the Cherry Hill Temple. Amy and Serena investigated the matter, which was when they met Raye. Raye had suddenly started acting strange, saying she'd felt an evil force. She revealed a white "anti-evil" scroll... "By the power of all that is good, I BANISH YOU!" Raye chanted. From Serena's point of view, all went black for the next 30 minutes or so, because Raye had slammed the scroll on Serena's forehead, completely knocking her out. From Lita's picture, Serena remembered one day (of many) when she was late for school. She ran down the street and around the corner, and accidentally slammed into the leader of a macho tough-guy gang. They were about to pound Serena into the dirt when... "Hey!" Lita had cried. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size!?!" "Oh, I'm so scared!" the leader said. "This girl thinks she can beat me up! Well, I'd like to see that!" As the old saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for." For right after his remark, Lita proceeded to fight all three of them, and knock them to the pavement with a few sore spots. The next time they'd met was at school, where Serena saw her having her lunch alone. Melvin tried to warn Serena to stay away, but she walked up behind her all the same. When she was within a foot of her... Lita turned her head and demanded, "WHAT DO YOU WANT!?!" Even from this bad start, Serena and Lita became friends. Serena looked at Mina's photo, and remembered one time when Sailors Moon, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter were fighting Zoycite and, for the first time, Malachite. He had trapped them in a black bubble, which was slowly closing in on them, with absolutely no means of escape. It looked hopeless, until... "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!!" a voice yelled. A yellow ray of light struck the black dome from the outside, disintegrating it completely, and freeing the Sailor Scouts. Everyone turned to see the person they knew as Sailor V. The mysterious fighter jumped to the ground and removed her mask, revealing herself as Sailor Venus. And from behind the scene, a white cat with the same crescent shape on his forehead as Luna's, jumped out and introduced himself as Artemis. Zoycite and Malachite fled the scene, while the Sailor Scouts looked in awe at their surprise rescuer. Serena looked at the picture of the entire group, and remembered everything they'd been through together in the last ten years. Serena turned from the smaller pictures, and turned to an even larger one, the largest of all, in fact. It was a picture of her and Darien. She sat with his back to him, with his arms wrapped around her, both of them smiling for the camera. It had been taken at an amusement park, by a friends of theirs who happened to be there. Serena looked at the pcture and sighed, then looked to the ground with her eyes closed. "Oh, Darien..." she thought, as a tear slowly ran down her cheek. "...I miss you so much..." "You'll see him again," a voice said. Serena wiped the tear from her face and turned her head, to see Luna sitting on the floor behind her. "You know that, don't you?" she asked. "Of, course I do, Luna," said Serena, turning back to the picture. "It's just that I wish I knew WHEN..." "Serena," said Luna, walking up next to her. "I'm sure, that wherever Darien is right now, whatever he's doing, his thoughts are of you, and how very much he loves you. Don't ever forget that." Serena thought about what the cat had just said. In her mind, she could just imagine Darien saying, "I love you, Meatball Head." Serena smiled and said, "Thanks, Luna." "No problem," the cat said.
*** Monday came, and Serena was back at work. She was walking down the candy aisle of the supermarket, clipboard in hand, and checking things off as she saw them. "M&M's...check...Bubble gum...check...Milky Ways, Snickers...check...Hershey bars...check..." she said, as she checked things off. As she checked the inventory, one of Serena's employees, a Chinese girl named Nia Chen, ran up to her. "Serena!" she called. "What's up, Nia?" Serena asked, looking up from the clipboard. "I think you should know," Nia said, "that we're running out of everything in the pasta section. People are starting to complain." "Well," said Serena, "have you checked in back to see if there's any more in inventory?" "Uh, no." "Well, do that," she continued, "and if there ISN'T anymore, let me know and I'll put out an order for tomorrow. Okay?" "Thanks, Serena," Nia said, a smile on her face. "No prob," she said, turning back to the clipboard as Nia walked away. Serena continued checking things off on her list, walking down the aisle. She didn't even notice the woman walking up in front of her. "Excuse me," the woman said. "Serena?" Serena looked up at the woman addressing her. The woman was her height, wearing a white T-shirt, blue vest, and black pants, and with a head of aqua blue hair. The initials that were printed on the vest spelled out "A. A.". Serena eyes shot wide open when she realized who it was. "AMY!?!" she cried. "Amy Anderson, is that you?" Serena dropped her clipboard, and the two old friends echanged a hug. They pulled apart, and checked each other out. "Oh my god, Amy, you look fabulous!" Serena commented. "Thanks," Amy said back. "You look great yourself!" "What are you doing back in Tokyo?" Serena asked. "The least I'd heard from you, you got engaged to Mr. Wonderful, Greg!" Amy blushed and answered, "I decided to take a few weeks off of work and pay a surprise visit to the best friend I've ever had. We haven't seen or heard from each other in too long!" "Girlfriend, I couldn't agree with you more!" Serena replied. "So how are you?" "I'm great," she answered. "Things are going wonderfully in China with me and Greg. He sends his regards, by the way. You?" "Oh, things couldn't be better!" Serena said. "Everybody here in Tokyo is doing fine." "Well, why don't we discuss it over lunch?" Amy suggested. "I would Amy, I really would," she said, "but I've got to be here until 5:00. Why don't you stick around until then, and then we can both go surprise Raye! She is SO going to get a kick out of this!" Amy giggled and answered, "Sounds like a plan to me!"
*** 5:00 came, and as soon as it did, both Serena and Amy were in her car, headed for the Cherry Hill Temple to give Raye the biggest surprise she'd ever had. They parked outside the temple grounds, and slowly and quietly made their way in, trying as best they could not to disturb anyone or anything. "This is going to be so great!" Serena whispered. "Raye is going to be jumping for joy when she sees you!" "I know," Amy replied. "She hasn't seen me since the last time you did." They crept their way through the temple hallways, headed for where they thought their friend Raye Hino might be at the moment. They raced past open doors to rooms that had people in them, and quietly passed closed ones as well. They thought they had it pretty good, until they turned a corner, and bumped into someone. Serena went falling backwards, slamming into Amy, and sending them both to the floor in a two-person heap. The embarrassed pair looked up at the surprised individual they'd bumped into, who stared down at them. It was Chad. Both smiled sheepishly, waved and said, "Hi, Chad." "AM--" Chad began to, say, but before he could finish, Serena shot to her feet and covered his mouth. "Not so loud!" she whispered, uncovering it. "We're trying to surprise Raye; where is she?" "Meditating in the fire room," Chad answered. "Amy, how totally cool that you're here! Raye is so gonna love this!" "Thanks, Chad," Amy said politely. Serena kept creeping down the hall, with Amy and Chad close behind her. The three of them made their way to the fire room, where Chad silently opened up the door. Sure enough, sitting in front of a blazing hearth fire, locked in meditation, was the Sailor Scout of the planet Mars, Raye Hino. "You're sure she won't be angry that we're interrupting her meditation?" Amy asked. "Believe me, Ames," said Serena. "She'll forget all about it the instant she sees you!" The two slid through the door, and stood behind Raye, who obviously hadn't heard them. They waited for a minute or so to make sure Raye didn't notice them, then they both said aloud,: "HI, RAYE!!" Raye shot her eyes open and sprung to her feet, startled by the sudden greeting. She then hunched over in anger and began to turn around. "Serena!" she growled. "How many millions of times have I told you NOT to-- " She stopped when she saw the blue-haired girl standing next to Serena. The scowl on her face instantly turned into a smile. "AMY!" she cried. "My god, I can't believe it!" Amy and Raye wrapped their arms around each other, laughing. It was truly a happy occasion. The first three Inner Sailor Scouts were once again together.
*** Raye served up some tea and muffins for her friends, and they engaged each other in conversation. They talked for hours upon hours, for Raye hadn't seen Amy in the same amount of time that Serena had, which was a period of about four months. "So what's been going on?" asked Raye. "Not much of interest," Amy replied, sipping some tea. "The hospital can get pretty hectic at times, and things at home can be pretty crazy too, but Greg and I manage." "So how long have you two been engaged?" Amy looked over at a calender on the wall of the room, and say that the next day to be crossed out was June 14. She thought about the question for a minute. "13 months next Tuesday," she answered. "We haven't been able to afford a wedding yet, even on both our doctors salaries. Most of what we earn goes toward food, taxes, and the house payments." "Well, why don't you move into a cheaper place?" Serena suggested. "We would," she replied, "except we figure it'll cost us even more to move now, and then we're right back where we started when we first moved to Hong Kong. And besides, the house payments are the least of our worries. It's getting behind on our payments that worries us." "I'm sorry to hear things are so crazy," said Raye. "It's really no problem for us," Amy said. "Greg and I do what we can." "So where do you plan on staying?" Raye asked. Amy's eyes lit up in astonishment. "Now that I think about it, I'm not sure. I guess I can just rent a room at a hotel or something like that." Serena gulped down the rest of her tea and put her cup down. "Now way!" she exclaimed. "No friend of mine is staying in some over-priced Motel 6!" "Well, what would you suggest, Meatball Head?" Raye asked. "You can stay at MY place, Ames," Serena said. "I've got plenty of room. I've got an entire extra bedroom for you to sleep in, and I'm sure I can scrounge up some extra sheets and blankets too." "I wouldn't want to impose..." Amy began. "You? Impose? No way!" Serena replied. "Sorry, Serena," Raye joked, "but I highly doubt our friend the good doctor would want to spend her vacation risking her own mental health in that bottomless pit you call an apartment!" Serena turned to Raye and replied, "You've never even BEEN to apartment, so you can just zip it!" Amy shook her head in disgust and said to no one in particular, "Some things never change..." The two friends stopped their argument for a second. "Actually, Amy," said Raye, "you'd be surprised how much Serena's changed lately. The ditsy, clumsy, flaky Meatball Head you met ten years ago no longer exists!" "Well, she exists a LITTLE," said Serena, disregarding Raye's obvious insult. "So what do you say, Ames?" she asked. "A few weeks stay at Chateau Tsukino, free of charge on meals and room service?" Amy smiled and answered, "Sounds good to me!" Serena jumped to her feet, threw her hand in the air in excitement, and exclaimed, "GREAT!" she then looked down at Amy and asked, "Uh...what about your stuff. Your luggage, I mean?" Amy's face turned to a surprised expression. She blushed and grinned sheepishly. "Now that I think about it," she said, "I think I left all my luggage at the airport!" Serena and Raye both sweatdropped.
*** After their afternoon and early evening with Raye, Serena and Amy hopped in the car and went to the airport to pick up Amy's luggage. It took a little while to actually get in, because the security guard wouldn't let them past the metal detector. After about an hour of arguing with the tall, red- haired "gentleman", they finally made their way to the baggage claim, where Amy picked up two heavy blue suitcases, and a small handbag the same color.
After that, Serena and Amy drove back to her apartment where they intended to surprise Luna. Serena slowly unlocked and opened the door and looked in, with Amy hidden behind the wall. Serena surveyed the room, and noticed a black shape moving on the back of the recliner. It turned out to be Luna, who stretched, yawned, and looked at Serena. "Well look who finally decided to come home!" the cat said. "It's nearly 10:30!" "I know that, Luna," Serena said. "Aside from that...LOOK WHO I CAUGHT!!!" With that, Serena reached behind the wall, and pulled out the blue-haired woman hiding there. Amy blushed, smiled and waved. "Hi, Luna..." she said timidly. "Amy!" Luna exclaimed, jumping down from the recliner and running into Amy's arms. Amy hugged her tightly, Luna purring. She then jumped down to the floor and looked up at the two of them. "Oh, Amy, it's so good to see you! However did you find the time to get here all the way from Hong Kong?" Luna asked. "I just asked for a few weeks off, and my boss gave it to me!" Amy replied. "I can't stay away from Tokyo forever." "And what's even better," said Serena, "is that Amy's going to be staying with us in the extra bedroom while she's in town! Is that mega-cool or what?" "That's wonderful!" Luna cried. "How long are you going to be here, Amy?" "About a month," Amy replied. "Then I have to go back." "Only a month?" asked Serena. "Darn!" "I wish I could stay longer, but I just couldn't get the time off from work," Amy explained. "And I can't leave Greg at home all alone for that long!" "Well...?" said Luna. "Well, what?" asked Amy. "When are you two tying the knot?" Luna replied. "You've been engaged for at least a year now, and the wedding is LONG overdue!" "We would have done it a while ago," Amy answered, "but we can never seem to find the money to pay for it. Even though we're both doctors, our salaries simply can't pay for it all. We'd ask for raises, but we're both doing so well at the hospital, we don't want to ruin it." "That's too bad," said Serena. "Look, Ames, if you really needed the money, you should have come to me! I can go to my supervisors over at the market, and I'm sure they..." "Not another word, Serena!" Luna sharply cut in. "You've already told Raye you go to your bosses if those hoodlums broke anything at the temple! I seriously doubt after that they'll allow you to take the money you need for a whole WEDDING! Now enough of this borrowing money from your workplace to support your friends! You have enough trouble paying for this apartment as it is!" Instantly, Serena's eyes turned from blue to red. "And what is THAT supposed to mean!?!" she angrily snapped. "Since when have I had ANY trouble paying for this place, huh, tell me THAT!!! Everything in here was successfully paid for by ME! Yeah, that's right, ME!!! See that refrigerator? And all the food in it? Feel the air conditioning? See that TV, and cable box, and sofa, and EVERYTHING in here!?! I PAID FOR THAT, WITH MY MONEY!!! So don't YOU go telling ME about my so-called 'financial problems', missy!!!" Both Luna and Amy looked shocked at Serena. Luna toppled onto her side, the shocked expression still there. Meanwhile, Serena's eyes turned their normal color, and she looked at her blue-haired friend and her cat in surprise. "Whoa," she said. Serena and Amy both knelt down to Luna's petrified body. "Sorry, Luna," said Serena. "I've really worked by buns off to get where I am today, and get everything I have, and it really ticks me off when anyone says otherwise." "Think nothing of it..." the cat said. "I must say, Serena, you've really changed in the last few years. I really admire what you've done with your life, both at home and at your job. The girl I met ten years ago has certainly changed for the better. "Well, I'm flattered!" Serena said, blushing. "And I'm flattened!" a weary voice said. Both Amy and Serena looked down, and realized they were leaning on poor Luna! They pulled their hands away and smiled sheepishly. "Well, enough of that! Let me show you the extra bedroom where you'll be sleeping," said Serena. Serena took Amy into the hallway, and through a door, into an almost empty room, where she instantly turned on the lights. It was a bedroom, all right. The bed was bare, and the only other things in the room were a brown wood dresser and a mirror on the closet door. Besides that, there was a small window on the side of the room, looking out over the city. "Well, what do you think?" Serena asked. "It's nice," said Amy. "Empty, but nice." "Glad you like it, Ames," Serena replied. "While you unpack, I'll see if I can't find you some extra sheets and stuff. Okay?" "Okay." Serena left the room, while Amy retrieved her luggage and brought it into the room.
*** When Serena returned with the sheets, Amy was in the middle of unpacking her things. One of her suitcases and her bag had already been emptied, while the other suitcase lay half-empty on the bare bed. "Make yourself right at home," Serena said, as she entered the room. "Thanks," Amy replied, putting some clothes in the dresser. Serena surveyed the suitcase. Even though it was half-empty, it still looked like it alone had enough clothes to last at least three weeks. "Wow, how much stuff did you bring along?" Serena asked. "Plenty," Amy answered, "and a few extras, just to make the room look a little nicer." She told the truth, for on top of the dresser were several pictures of herself and Greg, and one of herself and Serena, along with the rest of the Inner Sailor Scouts. "Nice to know you brought a few momentos," Serena said. She put the extra sheets on the bed next to the suitcase, then sat down. She looked down at the contents of the suitcase, and noticed something out of the ordinary. It was a small, cylindrical, agua blue-colored object, with the shape of a star on the end of it. Serena's eyes widened when she realized what it was. "Hey!" she cried. "You still have your Mercury transformation wand!" Amy turned and took the wand out of the suitcase. "Well, of course I do!" she said. "I never go anywhere without. I keep on me at all times, to make sure I remember one of the best times of my life." "You consider your life as Sailor Mercury one of the best times of your life?" "Yes," Amy answered. "And so do Lita and Mina!" "Really?" "Oh, yes! Mina and Lita have told me themselves how they keep their wands, just to remind them of you and all the things we've gone through together!"
"They never told me that!" Serena said. "I'm surprised the haven't," Amy commented, examining the wand, the light of the room making it shine like a star. "They've told me several times. If my memory serves me correctly, Mina told me she turned hers into a keychain so she'll always have it with her." Serena thought about what her blue-haired friend had just told her, then walked out of the room. Amy curiously followed her. The two made their way to the living room, where Serena approached the bookcase. There, she pulled on the green book, and the secret display revealed itself and it contents; the Transformation Locket, the Crescent Moon Wand, the Moon Sceptor, and the Imperium Silver Crystal. Amy stared in awe at the display, eyes and mouth wide open. "This is amazing!" Amy said. "I had this made while I was in college, to always remind me of all we'd been through. Of you, Raye, Lita, Mina, and Darien. I never once imagined that you and the others did too!" Serena turned to the pictures on the wall next to the bookcase, to the photos of Amy, Raye, Lita, Mina, and the whole group. Serena grabbed the frame of each one and pulled it open like the door to a safe. Inside, hidden underneath the photos, were pictures of Serena's friends in their Sailor Scouts uniforms, all of them in their transformation poses. The one of the group had them all standing side by side, arms crossed, ready for a challenge. Finally, Serena pulled back the frame of the picture of herself and Darien, revealing a picture of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Moon giving her salute, and Tuxedo Mask holding rose and fighting cane.
"I always look at these pictures, and remember all the years of
fighting," Serena said. "And it feels good to know my friends do
too..." Amy put her hand on her blonde friend's shoulder, and they both looked at the display, and the photos.
*** A few days later, Serena was back at work at the supermarket. During the day, there were several customer rushes, several people had to leave in the middle of the day, and several products were sold out, but all in all, it was a typical day at the market for Serena. During the day, Serena called home to check up on Amy, just to see how she was doing. She was of course fine, having stimulating conversations with Luna, or just checking the place out. All morning long, all Serena could think about was having her lunch. She would have snacked on it a little, except it was in her locker on the other side of the store, and she couldn't leave her desk, which was covered in job application, which Serena had the displeasure of having to sort through, one by one. It amazed her at the number of people wanting to work at the market, compared to the number of people that actually DID when they were hired. Still, all Serena could think about was getting her lunch. Over the years of living alone in her spacious apartment, Serena had learned to become quite an exceptional cook. While nothing compared to what her friend Lita Kino could whip up, Serena's food still got applause all the same. It seemed like every five minutes Serena was looking up at the clock. She didn't know why today she was so anxious to get to her lunch break, and she didn't care, whether she was really hungry, or just wanted an excuse to get away from the job aplications. Finally, 12:00 rolled around, and Serena jumped out of her chair. She put the remainder of the applications in a stack, picked them up, opened the door of her office, and walked out. Little did she know, however, that after he walked out...someone else walked IN... Serena walked across the aisle, towards one of her employees, a brown- haired high school student named Josh. He had gotten a part-time job at the market, and worked there when he wasn't swamped with homework. Serena couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "Been there, done that," she'd tell him. Today, she headed in his direction and called out his name. "Hey, Josh!" The brown haired boy turned in her direction, and she handed him the rest of the job applications. "Could you do me a favor and take care of the rest of these for me?" she asked. "I've been waiting for lunch all morning!" "Sure thing," he said. "I know what it feels like. It seems like four hours seems like four centuries, huh?" "You got it," she said, walking past him. "And thanks!" She headed to the other side of the building, to a wall of lockers. She fingered past some of them, and found hers. She opened it up, and gasped at what she saw. Nothing. The locker was empty. Someone had TAKEN her lunch. Serena stared in disbelief at the empty locker, then walked back through the store, grumbling to herself. Not only did she now NOT have a lunch, but she knew she didn't have enough money on her to buy herself lunch from the local fast-food place. She walked back through the door of the office, and then stared wide-eyed at what she saw sitting on her desk. On the desk was what looked like a hot, freshly made meal, fully set up, complete with chopsticks, grilled chicken, fried rice, and a side of steamed vegetables. Just the sight and smell of it made Serena's mouth water. But she couldn't for the life of her figure out HOW it got there! "What the--" she said. "How in the world...? "You've been brownbagging way to long, Serena!" a familiar voice said. Serena whirled around to see a tall, black silhouette leaning in the doorway. She walked into the light of the office and revealed herself. She was tall, that was for sure, with long brown hair that was tied in a thick ponytail in the back of her head, held togther by a green, beaded scrunchie. Serena's eyes widened even more. "Oh my god, LITA!!!" she cried, running into the girl's arms. The two exchanged a long hug, and they pulled apart. "Oh my god, Lita, what are you doing here?" Serena asked. "Visiting you, silly!" Lita replied. "I decided to take a few weeks off to come see one of my best friends!" "That is...that is just BEYOND incredible!" Serena commented. "Does Raye know you're here?" "Oh yeah!" Lita answered. "The temple was closest to the airport, so I went over and visited her first." Suddenly, from behind the wall, Raye Hino walked out and revealed herself. "And we decided to surprise you," she said, "to get you back for the shock you gave me when you brought Amy over!" "Well, now we're even!" Serena replied, then squealed with joy. "OOOH! I can't wait to tell Amy about THIS!" "Actually, we beat you to it," said Lita. "We called her from the temple. You should have heard her scream with joy when she heard my voice on the phone!" "Oh sure, ruin the surprise for me!" Serena complained. "But...this is just absolutely the weirdest week of my life! TWO of my best friends come back to Tokyo? Wow, that is just so COOL!" "You're telling me!" said Lita. "You should have seen my face when Raye told me that Amy was in town too!" "I'll just guess for now!" said Serena. "I'd offer you a place to stay, except I already gave Amy my only spare room!" "Oh, no problem," said Lita. "Raye offered me a room back at the temple." "Oh, good," said Serena. "HEY! Why don't we all have dinner at my place?" "That sounds great!" Raye cried. "You got the food, I can cook it up!" said Lita. "Oh, no." Serena argued. "You just flew all the way from Louisiana, and you already made me this great meal; there's no way I'm going to make you cook dinner for four people!" "Well who's going to cook, if not me?" asked Lita. "Yeah, you?" joked Raye. "As a matter of fact," Serena said, through clenched teeth, "I happen to have become an exceptional cook myself! Living alone for the last several years has forced me to learn a few things on my own! I can cook up anything either of YOU could! Plus, I've got this nice big fold-out table for everyone to sit at! Sound okay?" "Sounds all right to me," said Lita. "It's a dinner date!" said Raye.
*** That very night, the foursome joined together at Serena's apartment. Serena cooked up a fabulous meal, even though Lita couldn't help but want to give her a hand in the preparation of the food, but soon gave up her efforts, as Serena refused to accept help. They all sat down at the table and ate it entirely, talking about old times, new times, what was going on in their lives, and complementing Serena on her surprisingly good cooking talents. "I just gotta say, Serena," said Raye, "I love what you've done with this place! I don't think I've been over here since you first moved in!" "Thanks, Raye," she replied. "That means a lot coming from you." "And kudos on the food!" said Lita. "Even without my help, this stuff is great!" "Complements to the chef!" Amy declared, holding up her glass. Raye and Lita did the same. Serena blushed. "Thanks, you guys," she said, smiling. "Y'know if this was ten years ago, you'd all be complaining at me!" "Well, a lot's changed in the last decade," said Raye. "You're a lot more serious about things, you're responsible, you're holding a steady job, you're a lot cleaner when it comes to you're living habits..." "You financial habits have changed too," said Amy. "You know exactly what to do with your money; you don't waste it on junk food or video games like you used to." "Thanks," Serena said, blushing even more. It wasn't often she heard her friends talking about her like this, and it made her feel good about herself. But she couldn't help but wish some things were like they used to be. She sighed. "Is something wrong, Serena?" asked Lita. "Wha-?" she said suddenly. "Oh, oh, nothing, Lita...just...reminiscing..." "What about?" "Oh, all the things we've been through together," Serena explained. "All this talk about how I've changed over the years...kind of makes me wish I could go back to ten years ago...and go through it all over again...You even feel like that?" "Oh, all the time!" Lita said. "I still remember that day I saved you from that tough-guy gang, and then I nearly blew my top at you when we saw each other at school that day!" Serena smiled. She noticed Lita reach into her shirt, and take something green from her pocket. Serena looked up at it. It was Lita's Jupiter Transformation Wand. "I look at this thing every day and wonder what it would be like to live it all over again." she said. Serena looked at the other two sitting at the table. She saw both Amy and Raye reach into their pockets and take out their transformation wands too. The light of the room reflected on them like multi-colored mirrors. "You see, Serena," said Amy. "Lita, Raye, and I still keep our wands, just to remember you and everyone else." With that, Serena got up from the table, and walked over to her bookcase. All three of her friends followed her over there. Serena then revealed to them the secret display case, holding the four relics of Sailor Moon. Raye and Lita gasped at the sight, while Amy, having seen it before, simply smiled. "This is so cool!" Lita exclaimed. "Cool is such an understatement!" said Raye. "Serena, you never told me about this!" "I really didn't think I needed to." said Serena. "I had it made while I was in college. My roommate was a major in woodworking and mechanical engineering, so I asked her to build it for, complete with the hidden display. Fortunately, she gladly built it for me, no questions asked. I've kept it a secret ever since. Only a few people know about this, now including you guys, Mina, Darien, and the Four Sisters." "Wow..." said Raye. Then, she looked to the right of the bookcase, at all the pictures of the former Scouts, and finally at the picture of Serena and Darien. She gasped, then turned to her Meatball Headed friend. "Oh my god, I am so sorry, Serena!" she exclaimed. "In all this time, I haven't even mentioned Darien's name! How is he?" "Oh, he's fine!" Serena said, disregarding Raye's strange apology. "He's doing great over in New York, and he keeps telling me he'll come visit as soon as he can." With answering Raye's question, Serena couldn't help but remember the time soon after they met; Raye met Darien for the second time, and she found out about his interest in the martial arts, and she almost instantly fell in love with him. The relationship never went anywhere, because Darien had once admitted to his friend Andrew, "I can't even stay interested for five minutes!" The only exception to this was of course Serena, and possibly Serena's "friend" Ann. As they continued the conversation, they were suddenly cut off as the sound of the door opening caught everyone's attention. Serena stared wide-eyed at the door as it opened slightly. What surprised her about this was, she distinctly remembered LOCKING the door when she came in. She knew she had given keys to her apartment, to all of the former Sailor Scouts and Darien...so this could only be one of two people... Just then, the head of a blonde-haired girl peeped in the door. The golden- yellow hair flowed behind her, with a red bow in the back of her head. "Is it safe to come in?" a familiar voice timidly said. Everyone grew wide-eyed when they realizes who it was. Serena, Raye, and Amy all cried out, "MINA!?!" The blonde girl completely walked in the door, fully revealing herself. She wore a blue T-shirt, covered in a white vest, accompanied by a pink skirt and white shoes. No doubt about it; it was Mina Aino. "Hi everybody!" she said, waving. Lita chuckled, and walked up next to Mina. "Oh, and I forgot to tell you guys," she said, "that I met Mina at the airport as I was getting off my plane. We both decided to surprise everyone!!" "Oh...my...god..." said Serena, mouth hanging wide open. "Mina! How on earth did you get here!?!" "I hopped on a plane and flew here, silly!" she said, smiling. "You know what she means, smarty!" Raye said. "How did you find time out of your busy schedule to get your butt over here? I'm surprised you're not swamped with your prestiguous acting career to make the time to see your friends!" "Oh, puh-lease!" Mina snorted. "I've been trying to make the time to get here for the least six, no, my mistake, SEVEN months!!! Even during the short time that I was actually IN Japan at all!" "Whoa..." said Serena. "This is...this is...oh my god, this is just beyond words!!! All of my best friends coming back to Tokyo at almost the SAME TIME!!! This is just SO cool!" "You're telling me!" said Lita. "I had no idea I would meet Mina at the airport, just as I was getting off my plane! You all should have seen the looks on our faces when we saw each other!" "Cool!" Serena cried. "The Inner Scouts are reunited!" "This is, needless to say, quite a surprise," said Amy. "The chances of all three of us coming back to Tokyo at the same time are gastronomical!" "Well," Mina said. "Let's stop talking about how weird all of this is! How are you guys?"
*** During that delightful evening at Serena's apartment, all five of them talked about old times, and what was to come in the future. Mina was in the works of a new Sailor V movie, and was currently dating a fellow actor, who was to play Tuxedo Mask in the movie. Serena snorted at this, stating there was no one to replace the REAL Tuxedo Mask. Mina couldn't help but agree, but she still thought the guy was cute (and the feeling was mutual). Now, Mina, Lita, and Amy were roaming around the old town, seeing old friends, visiting the Four Sisters (with a stop at the arcade so Lita could check out Andrew), and other stuff, while Serena had to go back to work. As much as she hated the idea of doing that while her friends were out having a good time, she knew she had to work, and there was no getting around that. The others (except Raye, who'd seen the change firsthand) were astounded to see her loyalty to her responsibilities. That very day, Serena rushed in the door of her apartment, and slammed it behind her. She was VERY glad to be home. It had been what you would call "one of those days". She was understaffed the whole day, and things were busy, busy, busy, which was a normal yet still overwhelming thing at the supermarket. Serena then plopped down in her black leather recliner. She looked around the room. She realized she hadn't cleaned up the table from last night's dinner party, and she needed to do some dusting. "Hard day?" Luna's voice asked. Serena looked at the arm of the chair, and standing on the leather and over Serena's arm was the talking black cat. "Oh, y'know," she replied, "Little staff, lots of customers, one of those days." "I see," said Luna. "Well, it must fell good to be home." "You're telling me," said Serena. "If I had to stay at that market a second longer, I swear, the scream I would have made would shatter the windows for a three-mile ratius!" "Obviously an exaggeration," said Luna, "but definitely what anyone in your position would feel." "Who died and made you my psychologist?" said Serena, actually lifting up her head to glare at the cat. "Just commenting," said Luna, who then jumped off the arm of the chair, and started walking towards the open window, and jumped onto the windowsill. "Where do you think you're going, Luna?" asked Serena. Luna, looked back at her and smiled, then replied, "I told Artemis I'd meet him in a few hours. We're going for a night on the town!" "You two have fun," said Serena, remembering the close relationship Luna and Artemis had years ago, and in fact still had. Some would say they were as close as Serena and Darien were. After Luna left, Serena lay her head back in the chair, and thought of her beloved boyfriend, Darien Shields. She remembered countless times she's bumped into him (or vice versa) on the street, and they would get into an argument, which almost always ended in Darien walking away laughing, leaving a fuming mad Serena behind. Only a few times had Serena ever had the upper hand and made Darien angry, and even then it wasn't as satisfying for her as it was for him. As she reminisced, she slowly closed her eyes and started to fall asleep. It had been a long, tiring day for her, so this wasn't very surprising. She did sleep, for several hours. By the time she had opened her eyes again, the sun was nothing more than a flaming red inferno peeking out from behind the Tokyo skyline. "Oy," Serena thought. "How long have I been asleep?" She looked up at the clock on the wall. It said it was almost 7:30. "Two hours?" she thought. "Not bad, compared some of my other 'mid-day' naps." Serena lay her head back on the chair, and closed her eyes again, ready to go back to sleep. She almost did to... ...Until she heard the creaking. Serena's eyes shot open, and she realized the sound was coming from the door. She sat up and turned around to look at the door, and watched as it suddenly blew shut, after somehow being opened! Serena could swear she felt a breeze in the room, then looked at the window, which was still open. She sighed. "Must be the wind," she thought. She got up out of the recliner, walked over to window and shut it, then sat back down the chair. She was about to go back to sleep again, when suddenly, she heard it again. The unmistakeable sound of a door slowly opening. Serena shot open her eyes again, and looked to the door. It was now hanging open. Serena cautiously got up out of the recliner, and crept over to the door. She pulled it open further than it already was, and poked her head out, looking into the hallway, only to find it was completely vacant. No doors were open besides hers, not even the elevator, and there were no people in the hall, minus her head. Serena pulled her head back into the room and looked around, to find that besides her, there was no one to be seen. Serena closed the door and calmly walked back to her recliner and took a seat. "I've been working way too hard,..." she thought to herself, closing her eyes again. And she would have believed this...that is, until she saw the rose. Serena's eyes shot open again, and she stared down in surprise at the red rose, stuck stem-first into the arm of the black leather chair. Serena cautiously grabbed the rose by its green stem, and plucked it from the leather. She stared at it wide-eyed, examining the beautiful flower mysteriously left for her to find after being so conveniently distracted from her seat. After a few minutes of examination and wondering, the look on Serena's face slowly turned from wide-eyed and open-mouthed, to eyes half-closed and smiling. She recognized this "trademark". Serena got up from the chair, and slowly back away from it, moving slowly into a dark area of the room, concealed in shadow, with nothing immediately noticable that didn't exactly belong there. Serena stood with her back to the shadows, still smiling. And even though she didn't see it, she could tell there was a tall, black shape standing behind her... Just then, Serena outstretched her left arm, and balled her hand into a fist. She then, in less than a split-second, she thrust back her elbow, into the shadow of the room. In return, one short, loud sound was made coming right from the shadow: "OOF!!!" Serena turned and backed away from the shadow, and watched as the black shape stumbled forward, clutching its belly with its right hand. As the shape stepped into the light, Serena could clearly see who it was. Dressed in a black tuxedo, white dress shirt and bow tie, a black and red cape flowing behind him. The head was covered in dark black hair, and over his eyes, he wore a white mask, but even through it, Serena could see the man's dark, dark blue eyes looking at her. "Y'know, Darien," said Serena, trying her hardest not to laugh hysterically, "If you wanted to scare me half to death, you could have at least suddenly jumped in through the window!" The man stood up straight, and removed his mask, revealing himself as Serena's beloved boyfriend, Darien Shields. "There's just something about sneaking in through the front door that I find more satisfying," he replied. Serena smiled at him, dropped the rose, then ran into Darien's arm, squealing with joy. Darien swung her around and kissed her on the lips. He finally set her down on her feet, and they pulled away from each other. Serena then lay her head on Darien's chest. "Oh, Darien," she said, "you have NO idea how much I've missed you!" "Oh, don't I?" he asked. "How can I not know when I've missed you just as much?" Serena looked up and kissed him lightly on the lips, and stared into his dark blue eyes, while he stared into hers. "How did you find the time to get your butt over here, anyway?" she demanded. "When something important to you," Darien answered, "you make the time for it! And if it's as important as coming to Tokyo to see the woman I love, then finding the time is well worth it!" "How sweet," she said. "Oh you you are not going to believe this! Amy, Lita, AND Mina are ALL in town as we speak!" "I know," said Darien. "I saw them all walking down the street on my way over here. I followed them for a while because I thought you were with them, but when I found out you weren't, I made my way here. So that's why it took me so dang long to get here." "What time did you get into town?" "About, oh, 6:30," he answered. Serena simply hugged him even tighter. "Oh, I am so glad to see you!" she said. "Not as glad as I am to see you, Meatball Head!" Darien said. "I've been planning this trip for over six weeks! Seeing you is the highlight of my life, and it always will be!" "How long are you going to be in town this time?" Serena eagerly asked. "This time, about a month," he replied. "Only a month?" Serena whined. "That's too bad. I wish you stay longer than that." Darien smiled, and pushed her away so he could look into her bright blue eyes. "Then I've got some news you're going to LOVE," he said. "What do you mean?" she asked. Darien smiled even more. "Well?" Serena asked impatiently. "What is it?" "I'm moving back to Tokyo!" he finally said. Serena's eyes grew wide, and her smile did the same. "Your WHAT!?!" "I moving back!" Darien said. "Isn't that just great?" "Great!?!" Serena cried. "That's a total understatement!" She jumped into his arms again, and Darien swung her around, laughing. "It's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard in my life!" "I see you approve," said Darien. "I already applied for a job over at Tokyo General. They saw my record, and Andrew made a HUGE recommendation to them about me when I called him from my plane." "That's excellent!" Serena cried. "I can't believe you're moving back here! When's the move?" "Well, after I get back to New York, I'm going to work there another month, pack up my stuff in the meantime, then transport all my stuff to Tokyo." "Don't tell me you're doing all this just because of me!" said Serena. "Of course it's for you!" Darien answered. "Serena, I need to be near you. I love you. I've always loved you, and I always will love you. Our relationship has gone through a lot in the last ten years, and I can't let a distance of 2,000 miles ruin that. I want to be here, in Tokyo, with you, to make sure we stay together for as long as we live." Serena was truly touched. She looked up lovingly into his dark blue eyes. "Oh, Darien..." she said. They reached for each other, and they kissed each other, holding each other affectionately for a long, long time.
*** That very evening, all the former Sailor Scouts saw Darien at Serena's apartment, and were just as surprised as she was. That night, they simply sat in the living room, doing nothing but non-stop talking. Any and every topic of conversation they could think of was discussed. "It's so cool you're moving back to Tokyo, Darien," commented Raye. "I know," said Darien. "Well, I think it' cool," said Mina, "that you care anough about Serena to travel over 2,000 miles just to be with her." "And why shouldn't I?" said Darien. "I need to be around her. Tokyo's where I've lived my whole life, and if Serena's still here, then I want to be here with her." Serena cuddled next to him affectionately even closer, then sighed. Darien looked down at her, with a semi-worried look on his face. "Something wrong?" he said. "What?" she said, looking up a him. "Oh, heck no. Nothing could possibly wrong right now. It's just..." "What?" "Well,..." she said. "It's just that...I can't help but fell something weird about all this...I mean, all of us being back in Tokyo at the same time? Doesn't something just feel a little...off?" "Sure, it's a little strange," said Amy. "But what's so bad about it?" "Yeah, Serena," said Darien. "It's probably just a big coincidence." Serena smiled at him, and replied, "Yeah...I guess you're right..." Or is he? It seems all the former Sailor Scouts are living their lives happily, and Serena's never seen them more content in their lives. And with the news of Darien's return to Tokyo is simply overwhelming. But how long can it last?
