UPDATED! ! ! ! Whoo hoo! I would have had this updated on Monday, however
I reread this chapter and realized that it really was going off course from
the story. However it did show Ami suffering flashbacks, Lita's still
inablitiy to control her self, and a new charactor Corey H. Maeyers, but it
was really off base so to speak. So I rewrote this chapter to this piece of
crap that I have now. Enjoy!
Umm . . . . where were we at last time. Oh yes, I remember . . .
"So, basically we are going to stalk Lita?" Mina asked, confirming the plan.
"I like to think of it as taking turns looking out for Lita, without her knowing it." stated Serena.
_______________________________________________________________________
The Girls received their assignments. Serena was going to take school time, due to the fact that she was in most of Lita's classes, plus if she wasn't running late she normally would walked to school with Lita and Ami. Ami was assigned for right after school, during the study session. This time was picked especially for her since she really didn't need the extra studying time but was there to help the others with their academic problems, so she would be able to observe Lita the easiest at this time. Rei got the time right after the study session till 9pm. Mina then was going to take 9 to 12ish. Mina actually volunteered for this shift due to that she was used to late nights as Sailor V and her school began later than both Lita's and Rei's. All was set, but before everyone went there on ways, Serena spoke up. "Girls, before you leave, I want to discuss something about the shift I received."
Rei immediately thought, "Great. This is where she gets all whiney and cry babyish. 'I can't do my shift since blah blah blah!' God, I really don't want to deal with this now." She then waited for Serena's excuses.
"Well, since I was taking my shift during school hours . . .." Serena started to say.
"Here she goes." Rei thought to herself, as she started to already frustrated with her.
Serena continued to speak, "I was thinking that if Ami has a test coming up, Rei had no one else to look out after the temple, or Mina has a hot date I could easily double up on a shift whenever you guys need me too. I mean it wouldn't be a problem and I would do anything for Lita, or any of you guys."
"Thanks Serena. I really appreciate it," responded Ami.
"Thanks Serena, but Lita is a higher priority on my list than dating." stated Mina.
"It's no problem. I just wanted to let you know if you need it, I'm there. However, if this meeting over, then I believe I hear the Crown Arcade calling me." Serena said jokingly.
"Okay, until tomorrow then." Ami said.
"Until Tomorrow." The other girls responded in unison.
The girls started to go their own way, but before Serena left she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. She turned around and said, "Rei?"
Rei could believe how maturely Serena was handling this situation. Usually when it came to meeting they had to explain plans repeatedly and for her to actually take an assignment seriously was almost impossible. However, today she went above and beyond the call of duty and brought it all on herself. Rei looked at Serena with a small smile at her lips and said, "I'm proud of you Serena."
"Why?" Serena asked, actually expecting Rei to yell at her for something she did wrong.
"You're starting to take you leadership role seriously. It was your idea to keep a watch on Lita and you actually thought about other people's situations other than your own. You sacrificed your own time for your friends' happiness. You're starting to become the great princess that we all knew you could become." Rei uttered in complete joy knowing that her crybaby friend was now becoming a responsible leader.
"Thanks Rei, I really appreciate that. Don't give me too much credit though. I am only acting as a worried friend, willing to make sure nothing bad happens to them." Serena said shocked at the fact that Rei was complimenting her.
"If you can keep that attitude for the rest of your life, you will be the greatest leader through out time." Rei said amazed at Serena. "You better head off. We all have a our missions to tomorrow."
"Yea. I guess you're right." Said Serena as she ran off. "Thanks again Rei." She said before she was out of Rei's sight.
Days passed and nothing truly unusual was occurring with Lita. She did her normal things she did everyday. The only change that was apparent was the fact that she had slight sags under her eyes, and Lita was always known to have poor sleeping habits. Serena looked up from her boring history text and thought, "It was a stupid plan to begin with. I have only wasting the scouts time, and stalking one of my dearest friends. What's the point?" Serena was about to continue to read about the French Revolution, however something stopped her. She saw Ami explaining a problem to Lita.
Ami looked up as Serena starred at her, winked her right, and gave a friendly smile.
Serena smiled back. "At least this is keeping Ami mind occupied." She was glad to see her friend was actually smiling. She starred back down at the pages; she had a test tomorrow and desperately needed to study for it. "Ah, tomorrow going to be a tough day."
It was going to be a tough day, but no one knew how tough it was going to be. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Serena screamed once she realized she was going to be late to school. Serena quickly threw her clothes on, grabbed a piece of toast, her lunch and sprinted her way to school. Amazingly Serena was able to make it to the front of the school with 15 minutes to spare. Just then, she looked up at the sky and noticed it was an unusually overcast day. It seemed as if the sky didn't know if it wanted to rain or not. She shook out the thought of the unpredictable weather and decided to look for Lita. She headed to the one part of the school's courtyard that Lita usually hung out. On her way there, she heard Ami.
"Hey Serena!" Ami said.
"Hey Ami. What are you up to?" Serena asked.
"Looking for Lita, you?"
"The same."
"Well let's do it together then." Ami suggested. As they walked, they spotted Lita under a tree. Ami was about to say something, but then noticed Lita take something from her pocket and put it in her mouth. Ami's smile she just recently had turned into a straight line as she marched over to Lita.
Lightning Flashed.
It happened so fast. So fast that Serena almost didn't believe it. But when she looked back at Lita with a bright red handprint on her cheek, she knew it really happened. She saw Ami swiftly approach Lita, as Lita took out a single cigarette from her pack and placed it in her mouth. As Lita smile and said, "Hey Serena, hey Ami! What's. . ." and that's as far as got before Ami slapped her a crossed her face. Hitting the cigarette out of Lita mouth, and her follow through caught Lita's hand, causing her to drop her pack.
Thunder Crashed.
"What the HELL are you doing Lita! Don't you know how highly addictive smoking is! How dangerous it is!" Ami yelled at Lita. Lita hadn't moved since Ami had hit her. She didn't even bring her hand up to her slowly swelling cheek. The best way to described Lita was that she was plainly and simply shocked. Ami continued her tirade. "And it will be a Cold day in Hell before I sit and watch one of my dearest friend smoke away her Life. I mean, did you honestly think that any of us would support your decision to smo . . . " This time it was Ami would was interrupted, by one person action
Lightning Flashed.
Serena walked passed where Lita and Ami were standing. She knelt down and picked up the pack of cigarettes. She then stood up and walked back to the side of Lita, gently took a hold of her hand, placed the pack in Lita's hand and said softly, "Go ahead in. We will be in home room in a few seconds."
Thunder Crashed.
Lita nodded slowly as she walked away with her head down. It wasn't because she was upset at Ami. No, it was because she was ashamed of herself, that and she was upset at her own stupidity. She was stupid to think she could light up in front of her friends without any type of problem. She dragged herself away from Ami and Serena, with not only a sting in her cheek but her heart.
Lightning Flashed.
"Serena, what the Hell was that about! Don't tell me you approve of this!" Ami stated, trying her best to keep her normally calm demeanor, however she was furious. Furiously that Lita was smoking, and was lately so careless about her health. Furious with Serena for handing Lita back a certain slow death. Furiously at herself for losing her temper and hitting a dear friend. "What the Hell were you thinking!" She couldn't keep it in any longer. She wanted to know why.
Thunder Crashed.
"It's her mom." Serena softly and plainly said.
"Here mom? What does her mom have to do with this?" Ami asked confused.
Serena sighed. It was going to be interesting to explain. "Well, it's going to be hard to explain." Serena started to say.
"I'm listening." Ami responded in an unusually cold tone.
"Well," Serena said, thinking of a way to explain what was going on. Once she came up with a plan of attack, she continued. "You know that different people associate different smells with different thing?" Ami nodded her head to have Serena continued with her explanation. "Like for example I associate the smell of Roses with Darien."
"So, people associate different smells with different people. What does this have to do with Lita smoking?" Ami asked, really unsure where Serena was going with this.
"Lita's mother was a smoker, and one of Lita earliest memories of her mother was the smell of cigarettes." Serena said sadly. She knew that it was only when Lita was lost or needed her mother's advice that she smoked. This usually occurred when she was under a lot of stress, and the past week was anything but stress free. She continued to explain the situation to her blue haired friend, "So that's why I gave Lita back the pack the cigarette."
Rain drops.
"When you gave her back the cigarettes, you gave her back her memory of her mother." Ami said finishing Serena's statement.
Serena gave a slight smile, and nodded. "Correct as usually Ami." Serena noticed the rain falling, and stated "We should really get in since it's raining and plus we only have a few minutes before the late bell . . ." Serena was interrupted by a bell ringing, she then finished her statement, "RINGS!!!! Come on Ami, We're LATE!" She dragged Ami as she did mach 5 into the school and into their homeroom. Luckily for them, their own teacher was late due to the fact that she forgot to put her top on her convertible. She didn't realize her error until it started raining.
Ami sat silently at her desk thinking what had happen between her and Lita. She overreacted. She knew that, Serena knew that, Lita knew that and Ami hoped that she would be able to forgive her. As soon as she could get Lita along, she was going to talk to her about it and apologize immediately for her actions. She then thought about what Serena told her. "How did she know all about Lita's mother like that?" Ami then came to the simple solution that Serena must have caught her smoking as well, plus with the high degree stubbornness Serena can get too, she probably forced it out of her. Ami then looked over two rows and three chairs back to her tall friend. Her eyes were blood shot, which had been getting worst by the day. This worried Ami, not because that drug use was associated with blood shot eyes, but with something more common that Lita has dealt with a lot in these pass few years. It actually dealt with all the scouts at one point or time. Lack of sleep. The blood shot eyes, the bags, the tired look, and most of all she was on edge. Some people get hyper with little to no sleep, some can't keep their eyes open, some get quiet, and some babble, but with Lita, she got edgy. As if it were fate, Lita chose that time to break her pencil. "I definitely need to talk to that girl." Ami thought as she returned back to her studies.
Later at Rei's Temple.
All the girls gathered at the Temple for another round of studying sessions. Surprising there wasn't too much commotion. For once Rei and Serena weren't shouting at each other. Lita was quietly doing her Chapter 5 Geometry work, were at some points she would curse to herself and start erasing furiously. As usually, Ami was quietly doing her Chapter 25 work. The only other noise that could be heard was Mina's heavy sighing as she moved on to another. Suddenly the silence was broken with a loud bang of a textbook being slammed shut. The girls all looked up surprised to see that Lita was the book-slammer.
Lita looked around and noticed everyone starring at her. "Sorry Guys." She said as she stood up. "I just need some fresh air." Lita stated as she walked out of the room, and out of the temple. Once she was far enough away, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her pack of cigarettes. She took out one, popped it in her mouth, lit it and deeply inhaled. She then slowly exhaled, letting the smoke linger by her nose. She was worried. She was worried about a lot of things. Passing the next test, saving the world, slowly losing the memory of her mother and father, but one worry stuck out in her mind. The basterd was still out there, and she wasn't going to stop until she found him and made damn sure there wasn't another victim to add to his list. Her thoughts, however, were disturbed when she heard someone coming up from behind her. She turned around, and said surprised, "Ami!" and quickly tossed her almost finished cigarette.
"I see that you have become a plant." Ami joked, But Lita looked as if she didn't get the joke. "See, you stated you were coming out for fresh air and . . " Ami stopped herself, realizing she wasn't there to explain to Lita the physics behind plant transformation of carbon dioxide. "Oh never mind Lita, look the real reason I came out here was to tell you that I'm sorry about what happened between us this morning. It didn't mean to hurt you; I was just shocked about what you were doing. What you are doing." Ami stated truthfully. She lowered her head in shame and continued, "I didn't understand."
"You didn't understand what?" Lita asked, a little confused.
Ami sighed and figured the best way to explain, without treading up Lita passed pain. The best thing she thought was using an example to explained what she knew. "My father was swimmer. He loved swimming. He could have been on the Olympic team, however he was never interested in competing. He still swam everyday after work, and come home smelling of chlorine. When my mother and father decided to . . " Ami chocked up a little over the word "divorce" but kept going. "I missed him so much at times. So, whenever I did, I went swimming and I won't miss him as much." Ami then stopped looking at the ground, and looked up at Lita and said, "I now understand why you were smoking, and I won't bother you about it anymore. But please, try to do it too often. The last thing I want to see one of my friends slowly dying right before my own eyes."
"I'm sorry too Ami. I shouldn't have shoved it in you face, especial you, being the future doctor and all." Lita said jokingly, then asked. "So, you ready to go in?"
"Maybe in a few more minutes. It's really nice out here." Ami said trying to stall for time, knowing what was happening else where.
"Yea, a few more minutes won't hurt much." Lita agreed.
Meanwhile. . . .Back at the Temple.
"Okay, any updates?" Serena asked quickly.
"Same old, same old." Rei stated as she whipped out a notebook. "After she leaves here, she hits the Gym for an hour and half, goes back to her apartment, prepares and eats dinner, and then tidies up until Mina's shift." Rei explained.
Mina then took over, "After tiding up, she either reads or watch TV usually with a drink." Mina was then interrupted.
"Do you know what she drinks?" Asked Serena.
"Serena, I'm watching Lita from a building across from her apartment, on the roof, not behind her fern in her living room." Mina said mildly shocked at her friend's question.
"Oh yeah. Right. Sorry. Please continue." Serena said feeling mildly sheepish.
"Well, around 11:55 she stops reading or watching TV, and hits off all the lights. I'm assuming that she goes to bed. I usually stay around until 12:15, 12:20 to make sure nothing occurs, then I usually go home." Mina said wrapping up her observations.
"Something isn't right though." Serena stated confused.
"How so?" Asked Rei.
"Well, I mean just look at her. She looks well, sleep deprived with those bright blood shot eyes and dark bags under her eyes. If she's going to bed at 12, and school starts at 8:15, she shouldn't look as bad as she does now. Right?" Serena asked.
Rei though about it for a moment, and remember certain times in Lita past that she looked like that. Usually, Lita would just tell them she was up late watching a movie, but one time Lita had actually came out and told Rei that she was suffering for nightmares. However, that was the extent of Lita's confession. She would not tell Rei of what the nightmares consisted of. "Maybe she having nightmares, or something is disturbing her sleep. Like a noisy neighbor."
Serena sighed and said, "Maybe." She was frustrated that her plan was solving any sort of problems that Lita was having. It didn't even identify her problem.
Just then Mina saw Ami and Lita coming towards the temple, and whispered, "Guys, they are coming back!"
Mina watched Lita sit down across from her. She did look tired as all hell. Maybe she was missing something in her observations. It was Thursday, and she had the Thursday night shift. Mina thought about any type of important schoolwork that was due Friday. A smile slowly emerged just as Mina realized what tomorrow brought. Not only did she not have any schoolwork due, but also it was sports appreciation day. All her classes would be no longer than 25 minutes. "Tonight, I'm going to find out what is keeping Lita up at night." Mina swore to herself, as she continued with her school worked.
Umm . . . . where were we at last time. Oh yes, I remember . . .
"So, basically we are going to stalk Lita?" Mina asked, confirming the plan.
"I like to think of it as taking turns looking out for Lita, without her knowing it." stated Serena.
_______________________________________________________________________
The Girls received their assignments. Serena was going to take school time, due to the fact that she was in most of Lita's classes, plus if she wasn't running late she normally would walked to school with Lita and Ami. Ami was assigned for right after school, during the study session. This time was picked especially for her since she really didn't need the extra studying time but was there to help the others with their academic problems, so she would be able to observe Lita the easiest at this time. Rei got the time right after the study session till 9pm. Mina then was going to take 9 to 12ish. Mina actually volunteered for this shift due to that she was used to late nights as Sailor V and her school began later than both Lita's and Rei's. All was set, but before everyone went there on ways, Serena spoke up. "Girls, before you leave, I want to discuss something about the shift I received."
Rei immediately thought, "Great. This is where she gets all whiney and cry babyish. 'I can't do my shift since blah blah blah!' God, I really don't want to deal with this now." She then waited for Serena's excuses.
"Well, since I was taking my shift during school hours . . .." Serena started to say.
"Here she goes." Rei thought to herself, as she started to already frustrated with her.
Serena continued to speak, "I was thinking that if Ami has a test coming up, Rei had no one else to look out after the temple, or Mina has a hot date I could easily double up on a shift whenever you guys need me too. I mean it wouldn't be a problem and I would do anything for Lita, or any of you guys."
"Thanks Serena. I really appreciate it," responded Ami.
"Thanks Serena, but Lita is a higher priority on my list than dating." stated Mina.
"It's no problem. I just wanted to let you know if you need it, I'm there. However, if this meeting over, then I believe I hear the Crown Arcade calling me." Serena said jokingly.
"Okay, until tomorrow then." Ami said.
"Until Tomorrow." The other girls responded in unison.
The girls started to go their own way, but before Serena left she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. She turned around and said, "Rei?"
Rei could believe how maturely Serena was handling this situation. Usually when it came to meeting they had to explain plans repeatedly and for her to actually take an assignment seriously was almost impossible. However, today she went above and beyond the call of duty and brought it all on herself. Rei looked at Serena with a small smile at her lips and said, "I'm proud of you Serena."
"Why?" Serena asked, actually expecting Rei to yell at her for something she did wrong.
"You're starting to take you leadership role seriously. It was your idea to keep a watch on Lita and you actually thought about other people's situations other than your own. You sacrificed your own time for your friends' happiness. You're starting to become the great princess that we all knew you could become." Rei uttered in complete joy knowing that her crybaby friend was now becoming a responsible leader.
"Thanks Rei, I really appreciate that. Don't give me too much credit though. I am only acting as a worried friend, willing to make sure nothing bad happens to them." Serena said shocked at the fact that Rei was complimenting her.
"If you can keep that attitude for the rest of your life, you will be the greatest leader through out time." Rei said amazed at Serena. "You better head off. We all have a our missions to tomorrow."
"Yea. I guess you're right." Said Serena as she ran off. "Thanks again Rei." She said before she was out of Rei's sight.
Days passed and nothing truly unusual was occurring with Lita. She did her normal things she did everyday. The only change that was apparent was the fact that she had slight sags under her eyes, and Lita was always known to have poor sleeping habits. Serena looked up from her boring history text and thought, "It was a stupid plan to begin with. I have only wasting the scouts time, and stalking one of my dearest friends. What's the point?" Serena was about to continue to read about the French Revolution, however something stopped her. She saw Ami explaining a problem to Lita.
Ami looked up as Serena starred at her, winked her right, and gave a friendly smile.
Serena smiled back. "At least this is keeping Ami mind occupied." She was glad to see her friend was actually smiling. She starred back down at the pages; she had a test tomorrow and desperately needed to study for it. "Ah, tomorrow going to be a tough day."
It was going to be a tough day, but no one knew how tough it was going to be. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Serena screamed once she realized she was going to be late to school. Serena quickly threw her clothes on, grabbed a piece of toast, her lunch and sprinted her way to school. Amazingly Serena was able to make it to the front of the school with 15 minutes to spare. Just then, she looked up at the sky and noticed it was an unusually overcast day. It seemed as if the sky didn't know if it wanted to rain or not. She shook out the thought of the unpredictable weather and decided to look for Lita. She headed to the one part of the school's courtyard that Lita usually hung out. On her way there, she heard Ami.
"Hey Serena!" Ami said.
"Hey Ami. What are you up to?" Serena asked.
"Looking for Lita, you?"
"The same."
"Well let's do it together then." Ami suggested. As they walked, they spotted Lita under a tree. Ami was about to say something, but then noticed Lita take something from her pocket and put it in her mouth. Ami's smile she just recently had turned into a straight line as she marched over to Lita.
Lightning Flashed.
It happened so fast. So fast that Serena almost didn't believe it. But when she looked back at Lita with a bright red handprint on her cheek, she knew it really happened. She saw Ami swiftly approach Lita, as Lita took out a single cigarette from her pack and placed it in her mouth. As Lita smile and said, "Hey Serena, hey Ami! What's. . ." and that's as far as got before Ami slapped her a crossed her face. Hitting the cigarette out of Lita mouth, and her follow through caught Lita's hand, causing her to drop her pack.
Thunder Crashed.
"What the HELL are you doing Lita! Don't you know how highly addictive smoking is! How dangerous it is!" Ami yelled at Lita. Lita hadn't moved since Ami had hit her. She didn't even bring her hand up to her slowly swelling cheek. The best way to described Lita was that she was plainly and simply shocked. Ami continued her tirade. "And it will be a Cold day in Hell before I sit and watch one of my dearest friend smoke away her Life. I mean, did you honestly think that any of us would support your decision to smo . . . " This time it was Ami would was interrupted, by one person action
Lightning Flashed.
Serena walked passed where Lita and Ami were standing. She knelt down and picked up the pack of cigarettes. She then stood up and walked back to the side of Lita, gently took a hold of her hand, placed the pack in Lita's hand and said softly, "Go ahead in. We will be in home room in a few seconds."
Thunder Crashed.
Lita nodded slowly as she walked away with her head down. It wasn't because she was upset at Ami. No, it was because she was ashamed of herself, that and she was upset at her own stupidity. She was stupid to think she could light up in front of her friends without any type of problem. She dragged herself away from Ami and Serena, with not only a sting in her cheek but her heart.
Lightning Flashed.
"Serena, what the Hell was that about! Don't tell me you approve of this!" Ami stated, trying her best to keep her normally calm demeanor, however she was furious. Furiously that Lita was smoking, and was lately so careless about her health. Furious with Serena for handing Lita back a certain slow death. Furiously at herself for losing her temper and hitting a dear friend. "What the Hell were you thinking!" She couldn't keep it in any longer. She wanted to know why.
Thunder Crashed.
"It's her mom." Serena softly and plainly said.
"Here mom? What does her mom have to do with this?" Ami asked confused.
Serena sighed. It was going to be interesting to explain. "Well, it's going to be hard to explain." Serena started to say.
"I'm listening." Ami responded in an unusually cold tone.
"Well," Serena said, thinking of a way to explain what was going on. Once she came up with a plan of attack, she continued. "You know that different people associate different smells with different thing?" Ami nodded her head to have Serena continued with her explanation. "Like for example I associate the smell of Roses with Darien."
"So, people associate different smells with different people. What does this have to do with Lita smoking?" Ami asked, really unsure where Serena was going with this.
"Lita's mother was a smoker, and one of Lita earliest memories of her mother was the smell of cigarettes." Serena said sadly. She knew that it was only when Lita was lost or needed her mother's advice that she smoked. This usually occurred when she was under a lot of stress, and the past week was anything but stress free. She continued to explain the situation to her blue haired friend, "So that's why I gave Lita back the pack the cigarette."
Rain drops.
"When you gave her back the cigarettes, you gave her back her memory of her mother." Ami said finishing Serena's statement.
Serena gave a slight smile, and nodded. "Correct as usually Ami." Serena noticed the rain falling, and stated "We should really get in since it's raining and plus we only have a few minutes before the late bell . . ." Serena was interrupted by a bell ringing, she then finished her statement, "RINGS!!!! Come on Ami, We're LATE!" She dragged Ami as she did mach 5 into the school and into their homeroom. Luckily for them, their own teacher was late due to the fact that she forgot to put her top on her convertible. She didn't realize her error until it started raining.
Ami sat silently at her desk thinking what had happen between her and Lita. She overreacted. She knew that, Serena knew that, Lita knew that and Ami hoped that she would be able to forgive her. As soon as she could get Lita along, she was going to talk to her about it and apologize immediately for her actions. She then thought about what Serena told her. "How did she know all about Lita's mother like that?" Ami then came to the simple solution that Serena must have caught her smoking as well, plus with the high degree stubbornness Serena can get too, she probably forced it out of her. Ami then looked over two rows and three chairs back to her tall friend. Her eyes were blood shot, which had been getting worst by the day. This worried Ami, not because that drug use was associated with blood shot eyes, but with something more common that Lita has dealt with a lot in these pass few years. It actually dealt with all the scouts at one point or time. Lack of sleep. The blood shot eyes, the bags, the tired look, and most of all she was on edge. Some people get hyper with little to no sleep, some can't keep their eyes open, some get quiet, and some babble, but with Lita, she got edgy. As if it were fate, Lita chose that time to break her pencil. "I definitely need to talk to that girl." Ami thought as she returned back to her studies.
Later at Rei's Temple.
All the girls gathered at the Temple for another round of studying sessions. Surprising there wasn't too much commotion. For once Rei and Serena weren't shouting at each other. Lita was quietly doing her Chapter 5 Geometry work, were at some points she would curse to herself and start erasing furiously. As usually, Ami was quietly doing her Chapter 25 work. The only other noise that could be heard was Mina's heavy sighing as she moved on to another. Suddenly the silence was broken with a loud bang of a textbook being slammed shut. The girls all looked up surprised to see that Lita was the book-slammer.
Lita looked around and noticed everyone starring at her. "Sorry Guys." She said as she stood up. "I just need some fresh air." Lita stated as she walked out of the room, and out of the temple. Once she was far enough away, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her pack of cigarettes. She took out one, popped it in her mouth, lit it and deeply inhaled. She then slowly exhaled, letting the smoke linger by her nose. She was worried. She was worried about a lot of things. Passing the next test, saving the world, slowly losing the memory of her mother and father, but one worry stuck out in her mind. The basterd was still out there, and she wasn't going to stop until she found him and made damn sure there wasn't another victim to add to his list. Her thoughts, however, were disturbed when she heard someone coming up from behind her. She turned around, and said surprised, "Ami!" and quickly tossed her almost finished cigarette.
"I see that you have become a plant." Ami joked, But Lita looked as if she didn't get the joke. "See, you stated you were coming out for fresh air and . . " Ami stopped herself, realizing she wasn't there to explain to Lita the physics behind plant transformation of carbon dioxide. "Oh never mind Lita, look the real reason I came out here was to tell you that I'm sorry about what happened between us this morning. It didn't mean to hurt you; I was just shocked about what you were doing. What you are doing." Ami stated truthfully. She lowered her head in shame and continued, "I didn't understand."
"You didn't understand what?" Lita asked, a little confused.
Ami sighed and figured the best way to explain, without treading up Lita passed pain. The best thing she thought was using an example to explained what she knew. "My father was swimmer. He loved swimming. He could have been on the Olympic team, however he was never interested in competing. He still swam everyday after work, and come home smelling of chlorine. When my mother and father decided to . . " Ami chocked up a little over the word "divorce" but kept going. "I missed him so much at times. So, whenever I did, I went swimming and I won't miss him as much." Ami then stopped looking at the ground, and looked up at Lita and said, "I now understand why you were smoking, and I won't bother you about it anymore. But please, try to do it too often. The last thing I want to see one of my friends slowly dying right before my own eyes."
"I'm sorry too Ami. I shouldn't have shoved it in you face, especial you, being the future doctor and all." Lita said jokingly, then asked. "So, you ready to go in?"
"Maybe in a few more minutes. It's really nice out here." Ami said trying to stall for time, knowing what was happening else where.
"Yea, a few more minutes won't hurt much." Lita agreed.
Meanwhile. . . .Back at the Temple.
"Okay, any updates?" Serena asked quickly.
"Same old, same old." Rei stated as she whipped out a notebook. "After she leaves here, she hits the Gym for an hour and half, goes back to her apartment, prepares and eats dinner, and then tidies up until Mina's shift." Rei explained.
Mina then took over, "After tiding up, she either reads or watch TV usually with a drink." Mina was then interrupted.
"Do you know what she drinks?" Asked Serena.
"Serena, I'm watching Lita from a building across from her apartment, on the roof, not behind her fern in her living room." Mina said mildly shocked at her friend's question.
"Oh yeah. Right. Sorry. Please continue." Serena said feeling mildly sheepish.
"Well, around 11:55 she stops reading or watching TV, and hits off all the lights. I'm assuming that she goes to bed. I usually stay around until 12:15, 12:20 to make sure nothing occurs, then I usually go home." Mina said wrapping up her observations.
"Something isn't right though." Serena stated confused.
"How so?" Asked Rei.
"Well, I mean just look at her. She looks well, sleep deprived with those bright blood shot eyes and dark bags under her eyes. If she's going to bed at 12, and school starts at 8:15, she shouldn't look as bad as she does now. Right?" Serena asked.
Rei though about it for a moment, and remember certain times in Lita past that she looked like that. Usually, Lita would just tell them she was up late watching a movie, but one time Lita had actually came out and told Rei that she was suffering for nightmares. However, that was the extent of Lita's confession. She would not tell Rei of what the nightmares consisted of. "Maybe she having nightmares, or something is disturbing her sleep. Like a noisy neighbor."
Serena sighed and said, "Maybe." She was frustrated that her plan was solving any sort of problems that Lita was having. It didn't even identify her problem.
Just then Mina saw Ami and Lita coming towards the temple, and whispered, "Guys, they are coming back!"
Mina watched Lita sit down across from her. She did look tired as all hell. Maybe she was missing something in her observations. It was Thursday, and she had the Thursday night shift. Mina thought about any type of important schoolwork that was due Friday. A smile slowly emerged just as Mina realized what tomorrow brought. Not only did she not have any schoolwork due, but also it was sports appreciation day. All her classes would be no longer than 25 minutes. "Tonight, I'm going to find out what is keeping Lita up at night." Mina swore to herself, as she continued with her school worked.