How About a Cup of Coffee?

Chapter 7

*

Serena dropped the bags on the floor with a thud. She had just walked up the stairs to her floor, thinking the exercise would do her good.

14 floors later, and a hell of a lot more tired; she had arrived at the door. Getting all her purchases inside was the last straw. She left them on the floor next to the door and kicked it closed with some kickboxing move. It was all she could do to make it to the couch.

There was a rustle of paper and she wearily opened her eyes to see Mina slouched comfortably on the opposite couch, reading this month's Cosmo. Before she could stop it, an aggravated groan escaped her lips and she screwed her eyes shut.

"What's wrong?"

Serena had to remind herself to count to 10. 1…2…3… "Did you or did you not just hear me struggling to get inside the door?"

Mina looked up from the quiz she was taking. "It says here that Andrew and I are completely compatible… You looked like you were handling it quite well by yourself. If you needed my help, you could have just asked, silly."

4…5…6…7… "Yes—but I didn't know you were home. I didn't see you."

"Oh. Well, that's your fault." She said airily.

8… 9… "Ok, that's fair. Well, it's about 5:30 and I'm gonna go take a nap before everyone gets here, ok?" She looked at Mina, who was deeply engrossed in her magazine. "Right."

Serena mustered her strength and made the journey over to her room. Her hand was on the knob and she was about to step inside when Mina asked, "What did you buy? You don't mind if I go through the bags, right?"

10… She slammed the door, threw herself on the bed and screamed loudly into the pillows.

Mina was unable to keep the fit of laugher from escaping her lips. She let it fly and waited for the consequences. But Serena didn't come out and Mina wondered if she really was ready for phase 2 or 3.

***

Around 7 o clock, there was a knock on the door. Since Serena was still holed up in her room, Mina took it upon herself to answer it.

"Ok, ok, I'm coming, I'm coming. Hold your horses!"

The knock was starting its second appearance when she finally made it over there.

She yanked open the door with all the strength in her body and Lita—the first person to arrive—grabbed her arm tightly to make sure she didn't fly through the wall.

"Whoa! Are you ok?"

Mina looked at her savior. "I am now—thanks Leets."

The brunette rolled her eyes and drew another person out from behind her. She was a bit shorter than Mina, and a lot shorter than Lita, but still had a nice way about her.

The blue-haired woman stuck her free hand out towards Mina. "Hello. I'm Ami." (AN: YAY! Ami's finally joined the crew!) She had a faintly British accent and that jarred something in Mina's memory.

The blonde looked extra close at her. "Hey! Haven't I seen you before? Do you work for the company, too?"

Ami smiled, transforming her features dramatically. "Yes, I do, as a matter of fact. I'm with my fiancé, Greg, in advertising. I remember seeing you at the last corporate party we had at Darien's penthouse."

"Oh yeah! That's right!" They moved awkwardly out of the door and Mina slapped her forehead. "What kind of host am I? Come on in, make yourselves comfortable—food goes in the kitchen."

Lita looked inside the apartment, and around the corner. "Is Serena here?"

"Yeah… she came home and crashed in her room after she was done shopping. She's probably up and getting ready now."

***

Wrong.

Serena, dear readers, was still sleeping.

Sleeping off the horrendous morning she had, dreaming of a prince who would come and take her away, never once realizing that all the guests were waiting for her.

She turned in her sleep and curled her knees up to her chest. Then she breathed in deep.

And kept on sleeping.

***

Rei stared at Mina in shock. "You mean she's still sleeping? After all I did, getting here on time, and she's STILL ASLEEP??" She demanded.

(Rei had arrived 3 minutes after Lita and Ami had, but she was still in office clothes, so she took time to change. When she came back out, Mina informed her that Serena was still asleep. Hence, the comment from above.)

Lita winced. "Well, I don't know if she is still now, but…"

The raven-haired girl rose from the couch she was sitting on and started walking towards Serena's bedroom door. Everyone else tried to protest the motion, but she answered them, "Relax. I'm just paying back the favor. She bossed me around… I boss her around."

By the time they all recovered from their shock, Rei was already deep in Serena's room. There was nothing they could do except sit and wait.

***

It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Serena'd pulled the heavy drapes shut and the only light was a result of the nightlight that was in the corner. A quick glance confirmed that Serena was, in fact, still sleeping.

As her lips curved into a smile, you could swear that horns grew on top of her head. She gently pulled back the covers and then took a deep breath. "Serena WAKE UP!"

"AHHH!" The blonde in bed screamed. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

Rei allowed herself a satisfied smirk and sat back on a chair in her friend's room. "Nothing, right now."

Serena was looking blankly at her opponent's angelic expression, and was immediately doubtful. "What do you mean, "nothing"? You just came in here and yelled me awake-I'd say that counts as something. Hey. What time is it? Aren't you early?"

The sitting woman rolled her eyes so sharply Serena check to make sure they hadn't fallen out of her head. "NOTHING'S HAPPENING BECAUSE YOU TOOK A 5 HOUR NAP AND NOW WHEN EVERYBODY'S HERE—YOU'RE STILL ASLEEP!" Then she reminded herself to breathe deeply and relaxed back in her seat, looking at her nails nonchalantly as she waited for her words to sink in.

Serena stared at her dumbly. "It's 7 o clock. Already? Wow." She scanned the room for her digital clock and gaped at what she saw. "AHHH! IT'S ALMOST 8 O CLOCK! REI—YOU LIED TO ME!!" She took a gasping breath, "I have to get ready, I have to shower, I have to change, I have to—"

Rei cut her off, "—Then just DO IT, Meatball Head, and stop talking about it!"

So she did.

***

When Ami heard the screams, she was worried. But she relaxed when who she hoped was Serena, screamed back. And then, in less than 5 minutes, Rei walked out the door quietly, looking very pleased.

"She's all right?" She asked.

Rei gave her a peculiar once-over. "She's fine. I didn't hurt her or anything."

"She's coming?"

This time, Rei grinned. "She's already on her way."

***

Author's Notes:

READ THESE PLEASE! THERE MAY BE SOMETHING THAT CONCERNS YOU!!!

Just so everyone gets this straight, because I get the feeling it confused A LOT of you: the question about the senshi and the generals vs. guys was for *another* story. I am planning on keeping things here the way they are. I was just asking about my other fic, "How Crystal Tokyo Came About," because I wasn't sure where I wanted to take it, and I really trust your guys' opinion. (I really have to shorten that title.)

Ok. This I just decided. We're calling "How Crystal Tokyo Came About," "Crystal," and we're calling "How About A Cup of Coffee," "Coffee." All right? All right.

Question of the fic: Should I introduce the outers into this story? (This question pertains to COFFEE.)

I already have roles for them, Pluto may or may not be Sailor Pluto… but I have positions set for Uranus, and Neptune. Maybe a position for Hotaru… we'll see. It's harder to write an under-age character, but I suppose we all need a little Saturn-alia.

Here's where it gets weird. If everything about this turns out okay, I am planning to do a sequel to it—when they all find out that they're senshi. (Can you just see Darien with that one? Hoo boy will this be fun!)

For more news on the fanfic homefront: I am looking for a beta-reader. (ducks at incoming emails) Since my limited email access, I wouldn't be able to send it to you before posting. Which I guess defeats the purpose—but anyway, I'm looking for an editor/reader/PERSON who I can consult for all this stuff. Like the generals vs. guys, whether the outers should be introduced, etc. A few people, just to consult when I get writers block and have terminology problems, stuff like that.

If you're interested, just send me a short little email about why you want the job and why you'd be good for it.

I should probably just open a message board. Hmm. Maybe I will look into that. (*edits* OOH! I did! Anyone who wants to be on it will have to sign up with blogger—I'll give you the link after that.)

Another order of business: I am going to set up a notification list for everyone who wants to know when I update. I don't know if it will be specifically Sailor Moon, but if you want to be on it, I'll just take your emails off the reviews. So I'll just assume that EVERYONE who left a review with their email wants to be on it. Leave me a review with instructions saying that you DON'T WANT TO BE ON IT if you don't.

And lastly, check out Fleur's (On ff.net.) work. She's one of my friends and she has a really great multi-chaptered one out there.

Ok that's all for now… don't forget to check out *my* other Sailor Moon fics while you're waiting—especially, Gray Sky Morning—which I just *crosses fingers* finished.