First Meetings

Lita and Nate

Rated Pg

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Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Sailor Moon I do this for my enjoyment and for the enjoyment of my readers…The original characters and the original ideas are mine and it's going to stay that way.

Notes: italics denotes silent thought

This time Lita will truthfully say. "Hey you look just like my old boyfriend!"

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Lita Kino at twenty-seven years of age stood 5'11" in her stocking feet. She still had fiery red hair only now she wore it in a French braid that hung to her waist. She was known in the cooking world as the Amazon Chef because of her features, her fiery temper, cunning mind, and her loyalty to her friends. She had just gotten off an 18 hour flight from hell and was taking a few minutes to check over her email and clear her mind enough to drive her rental car.

"What in the world?" She clicked on an email and read it over five times. "Five million American dollars! My mystery backer deposited that much in my accounts!" She wasn't worried, because her mystery man was a close friend of Darien's from his college days. He was helping put up some of the capital for her latest project a five star restaurant in the busy Juban district of Tokyo. It was completely different from her other three family style restaurants and she wanted it to be the hottest place to dine in Japan. It had taken her years to achieve her dream of becoming a chef and restaurant owner. She had trained hard, learned from the best, and was a world class five star chef. Her family of friends had backed her every step of the way and were partners in every one of her restaurants. She knew very little about her mystery backer except that he lived in Boston and owned the Atlantia a five star restaurant.

"Well mystery man you and I are about to meet." Lita took out the directions to the restaurant and decided to go there before surprising her friends. She put away her lap top and went to pick up her rental car.

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(Penthouse)

Nate was so nervous about Lita's arrival that he was prowling around the Penthouse. "What flight is she arriving on?" He asked the three girls for the hundredth time.

Raye looked up at him from where she was sitting on the couch. "Look Nathan she didn't tell us so stop asking! She did say that she was going to solve the identity of her mystery man whatever that means." She went back to reading her email.

"It looks to me like the lady is looking for some answers." Jared stopped working on his latest book to taunt his friend.

"What does he expect when he wired her 5 million dollars into her account? " Kevin was currently going over a stack of movie scripts that his production company was thinking of producing.

"Darien told me that she wants to open Ios in the fall and I want to make sure that her dream happens. I don't even mind that it's going to compete with Silver Millennium." Nate stopped his pacing to glance down at his watch. "Damn it! I was supposed to check in with the restaurant two hours ago." He swore under his breath.

"Nate it's not the end of the world if your world class staff manages without you for a day." Mina was looking at the costume designs that Sel had faxed to her for her Sailor V movie.

"Keep this up buddy and you'll give yourself an ulcer." Zach growled.

"Nathan is just afraid that Lita is going to stop by Atlantia and discover her creations on the menu." Ami glanced up from the medical journal she was reading.

Nate gave her a wounded look. "Hey I gave her credit! That should count for something!"

"He didn't!" Raye stared at Nate as if he were insane.

"He did." Jared confirmed what she was thinking.

"He's dead." Raye surmised and went back to reading her email from Serena.

"Ami left the binder open on the kitchen counter. I had to see for myself. I had never tasted such cooking and it was too late to stop once I had set the wheels in motion." He pleaded his case.

"So the 5 million is basically for back royalties? Nope sorry you are so dead." Raye hummed taps as she read the email.

"Nate, Lita is the Senshi of thunder and that means that she can fry you at twenty paces!" Mina grinned.

Nate ignored their last remarks and went to work.

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Lita had one thing in common with Sailor Uranus and that was a love for fast cars. Her mustang convertible was definitely a plus rental car with a choice stereo system. She had the stereo blasting the Sound track CD from the anime, when she pulled into the last parking space at the restaurant.

Atlantia was definitely a five star restaurant. It was constructed using the finest Italian marble, had beautiful ancient archways that led to the guiled etched glass doors. The windows were all hand created stained glass creations of various scenes from ancient times. She had only seen similar on another such restaurant and it had just opened in Tokyo. It was also almost impossible to get a reservation and this one didn't seem to be any different.

"It is lunch time, but maybe they had a cancellation." She opened the front doors and the familiar smell of a five star establishment invaded her senses. "There are even statues of the gods and goddesses of ancient times. This place is awesome. I have to meet this guy."

This place just screamed class…the Matradee wore a tailored tuxedo and looked as if he was about to pull his hair out. The Wait staff wore crisp white tuxedo shirts, tailored sapphire blue slacks, and tailored aprons that depicted the name of the restaurant. The hostesses, there were two at the moment, wore sapphire blue Atlantian style gowns. The only thing off about the restaurant was the lack of activity coming in and out of the kitchen area. Looks like their short some staff and it's a full house. It must be excellent cuisine no one is minding the wait.

The Matradee looked up from what he was doing and managed to flash her a weak smile. "Welcome to the Atlantia restaurant…May I help you Miss…?" He waited until she supplied him with her last name.

"Lita Kino." She smiled.

"Kino…" He looked down at the reservation list and found her named listed on personal friend of the owner and a world renowned chef. There were special instructions to seat her no matter what and the word what was in all capital letters. "Mr. Stanton isn't here at the moment and today we seem to be in a little bit of a crisis. I won't be able to seat you on the main floor, but I can make you comfortable in his private dining area."

Lita heard the word crisis and went into action. "What type of crisis is it Max and how can I help." She read the golden name tag on his tux.

"Help?" Max eyed the red headed beauty warily.

"Yes, I happen to know a little bit about restaurants, so tell me the crisis and I might be able to help you. After all, Mr. Stanton and I are partners in another restaurant in my home country of Japan." Lita surmised that the trouble had something to do with the lack of activity coming from the kitchen.

"But Mr. Stanton wouldn't approve of a VIP working in the kitchen. That just isn't done." Max frowned at her. She was the exact likeness of many of the works of art inside the restaurant.

"So it does have something to do with the kitchen." Lita took off towards the kitchen area.

"Miss Kino! You can't just walk back there! Mr. Stanton would not approve of this!" Max followed her into the kitchen.

"It's okay Max. I happen to know a little about cooking and this crew needs all the help it can get. My guess is that you had a few sick calls or someone had to go home." Lita took in the frantic scene of various chefs and sous chefs trying to do the work of four people. Lita tossed her purse and jacket onto a chair in Nate's office. She put her fingers in her mouth and let out a shrill whistle which got everyone's attention.

"It's her!" a few of them gaped at her in surprise.

"My name is Chef Lita Kino and I'm here to see if I can be of any assistance. I need an apron, a chef's hat, the menu, and what needs to be done." Lita was immediately given what she had asked for no questions asked.

"Are you The Amazon chef, the chef who won every world class cooking competition this year!" Someone exclaimed.

"Well it looks like someone knows that I can cook." Lita grinned. "So what do you say that we feed those hungry patrons out there?" With that said she got down to work filling the orders in record time. Which wasn't a surprise considering that many of them were her dishes. Mr. Stanton has a lot of explaining to do!

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(A few hours later)

Nate stalked into the restaurant via the back entrance and he did not look happy. "Would you believe that I had to park 12 blocks away, because someone is in my private parking space! I am going to personally stand outside while the towing service tows them away! That's after I tell them off!"

"That would be my rental car and I would like to see you try." Lita looked up and got a first look at her mystery man. It can't be! That isn't possible! He looks just like my dream hunk! She was, so entranced that she layered too much whipped cream on the pie that she was topping.

Nate stared at the red headed Amazon standing in his kitchen and temporarily lost the ability to think. She was stunning and he wanted to kiss off the flour that she had on the tip of her nose. He had never had such an instant reaction to any woman and it floored him.

"Nate! Lita has been a godsend! We've had two major accidents this morning in the kitchen. Kristy burned herself on the grill and Adam cut himself while preparing the vegetables for the lunch hour rush. Max couldn't reach you, then the Amazon chef appeared saving our skins, and she didn't even seem to mind that her dishes were on the menu." The managing chef filled him in on what had transpired.

Lita picked up the over topped cherry pie and narrowed her eyes at Nate. Her emerald eyes sparked with the first embers of temper and she looked a little peeved. "Oh I wouldn't exactly say that."

Nate eyed the pie, then her expression, and knew what she was going to do. "Now Red, do you really want to ruin a first class dessert by throwing it at me?" He held his hand up in front of him, as if that would help any. "I really can explain."

Lita aimed and fired hitting him smack in the face. "Oh I bet you can! At least you decided to give me credit for my own creations!" She picked up the mixing bowl filled with rich whipped cream, stalked over to where he was standing, and dumped the contents on top of his head. "Next time ask before you take something that isn't yours!" Her temper spent she went back to finishing her desserts.

One of the dessert chefs picked up the camera that had been used to document the two accidents and shot a few pictures of their pied boss.

"I will be in my office for a while and I don't want to be disturbed!" Nate stalked into his office suite and slammed the door.

"Wicked! The Nathan Maxwell Stanton just got pied by the Amazon chef!" A sous chef stared at Lita in awe.

Lita dropped the knife that she was using to frost her triple chocolate black forest cake and stared at them in disbelief. "He's Chef Nate? The chef of the stars!"

The staff nodded. "The one and only and you just pied him in the face and lived to tell about it." The chef at the grill grinned.

"Chef Nate likes my dishes and I just…" Lita groaned. "Kuso! Me and my temper! Well there goes my new project." She went back to finishing her desserts. She eyed the clock and then the door thirty minutes had past and he stilled hadn't emerged. "That and any chance of dating the man of my dreams."

Tory one of the dessert chefs overheard what she had been muttering to herself and filled her in on a little secret. "When you get a chance walk around and check out the front windows and the art work in the restaurant."

"I saw the windows, but I haven't been able to see any of the restaurant floors yet." Lita frowned at the young girl who was helping her with the desserts. "Why what would I find besides breathtaking art work?"

"The point that I'm trying to make is that many of them are paintings that are of you." Tory put the tarts into the oven.

"That's surprising exactly who was the artist?" Lita's interest was peaked.

"Nate did all of the art work in the restaurant. I asked him what his inspiration was once and he said all of them are scenes from his dreams." Tory went back to her desserts.

Lita finished frosting the last cake and then decided to go investigate the main floor. Happy patrons raved about her dishes and she took her bows.

Max rushed over to see if she needed anything. "May I be of assistance Miss Hino?"

Lita was currently staring at a painting depicting two ancient lovers in a moonlit rose garden. Why is this so familiar to me?

"No Max. I'm just taking a break for a little while and wanted to look at the rest of the place." She walked over to an even larger work of art. The moon princess was asleep on a crescent moon and her prince was leaning over to kiss her and next to them was four handsome men in Atlantian attire and they were holding exact likenesses of the inner Senshi. The prince and princess looked like Serena and Darien. "Um, Max if anyone needs me I will be out outside getting some air." She bolted out of the front doors.

Max went to go get his boss, because he thought that Lita was in need of him.

"No way! This can't be true! They weren't resurrected with the rest of us! Their clones killed us, but the four of them died on earth!" She stood back a ways, so that she could get a good view of the two windows. The one on the left side of the doors was of Atlantis and the other on the right side of the door was of the Moon Kingdom. Chef Nate is my former boyfriend from the silver millennium...no that's not right we we're just newly married and he got called away...? And I pied him in the face!

Nate found her sitting in front of the window of the Silver Millennium. "So this is where you're hiding. Let's you and I have a nice long talk over lunch." He reached down and helped her to her feet.

"That…" She pointed to the windows. "And those paintings in there…" She was in fire bad tree pretty mode. "But how is it possible?" She let him guide her to the private dining area.

"Red? You aren't going to faint on me are you?" She was incredibly pale and totally lost as to what to think. "Let's sit you down in this chair and then we will get some food into you. You must be almost dead on your feet." He sat down across from her and waited for her to respond.

Lita stared down at the Lenox dinner plate in front of her. "I'm sorry." She whispered softly.

"Sorry?" Nate arched a brow at her. "I deserved the pie in the face for not having the nerve to ask you for permission to use your recipes. I'm just sorry that your first day in Boston was spent slaving away in my kitchen."

Lita looked up into his baby blue eyes and it was love at first sight. "I love being in the kitchen and I'm happy that I could help." She blushed.

"Let me see if I can sum up what you're feeling. You saw my art and thought about hopping on the next plane to Tokyo?" He winked at her. "The problem is that Ami wouldn't like it if you missed her graduation, Raye would give me a hot foot, and Mina would just hurt me."

"You know my friends?" Lita almost choked on the salad that she was eating.

"Kevin, Jared, and Zach are my best friends. We live in this huge penthouse and the girls are currently residing on the floor bellow us." He started to explain the entire situation, but Lita was staring at the stained glass wall mural. "Are you alright?"

"The lightning goddess gowned in green in your mural is me... the red gowned goddess surrounded by flames is Mars...the goddess gowned in blue standing in a geyser is Mercury…the goddess gowned in yellow catching shooting stars is Venus…and the goddess gowned in white holding the moon is Serenity, but how?" Lita was awed that someone would use their likenesses in works of art. "I mean that is us! You created visions of the past!" She had a clue as to which General he was, but still couldn't put a name to the picture in her head.

"All of my art are inspired by my dreams." He reached across the table and placed his hand hers. "Earth to Jupiter is it coming clear to you yet?"

Lita's heart skipped a beat when they touched. "Nephrite? You mean that the four Generals are alive?"

Nate nodded. "Kunzite is Kevin, Jadeite is Jared, and Zach is Zoisite. The three are currently dating Venus, Mars, and Mercury."

"All of which are Darien's friends from college, so this is the reason that he won't let Serena look at any of entertainment news. He doesn't want her to go mental." Lita took a sip of water.

"We're going to tell her, but not until Ami's welcome home party in Tokyo." Nate was still holding her hand.

"I guess what I used to say all the time finally makes sense." She smiled happily at him.

"What was it that you used to say?" Nate was intrigued.

"It's just that I used to say a certain phrase." She liked keeping him in suspense.

"Well?" Nate was dying to hear the phrase.

"I used to see a cute guy and then look at the others and say and I quote "He looks just like my old boyfriend!" She winked at him.

Nate sat back in his chair and laughed for five minutes straight. "Tell me that you didn't say that."

"Oh yes I did and now I know why." She looked up into his eyes. "I was searching for you."

"I missed you Jupiter." He walked around the table and pulled her up into his arms.

"I missed you Neph." She sealed those words with a kiss.

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Lita and Nate spent the rest of the afternoon working side by side in the kitchen. They took off for the evening and decided to stroll around Boston. They found secluded places in Boston Common and kissed for long periods of time. They were enjoying their reunion and had forgotten that anyone else existed.

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(Back at the Penthouse)

Darien had called to check in and see if Lita's flight had landed okay. The girls knew that Lita hated to fly and were shocked to hear that she hadn't shown up at the penthouse yet. They told Darien that she was napping and that everything was fine and then went about trying to locate their friend.

Kevin called the restaurant but they weren't any help. Nate was gone for the night. Jared called the airport her flight had arrived and she had picked up her rental car. Zach attempted to page Nate, but he had left his cell and pager in his office at the restaurant.

The girls decided to send for Pluto and she reluctantly agreed to go find them.

Sel found the two love birds at Boston Public Gardens riding one of the Swan Boats. They were alone except for the gondolier, so she appeared behind them. "Are we having a good time?" She growled into Nate's ear. "The others are worried witless about the two of you."

Nate and Lita turned around to glare at Sel. "Tell them that it's our turn and we'll be home when we feel like it." Nate growled back.

"I don't think so." She grabbed Lita by her braid and Nate by his jacket and pulled them with her into the portal.

"Just tell them what I said!" Nate glared at her.

Sel's response was to drop them onto the living room couch at the penthouse.

"Party pooper she never has any fun." Lita growled.

Kevin, Zach, Jared, Mina, Ami, and Raye all converged on the couple. "WELL!" They glared down at them.

Lita and Nate looked at each other then stated in unison. "She finally found her old boyfriend!"

Kevin, Jared, and Zach didn't get the joke, but Ami, Mina, and Raye did and were rolling on the floor with laughter.

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Well that's it for how the inner Senshi met their Generals, but the fun continues in Life after Sailor Moon.

©Cindra 2003-2006