He he he... Let's see, when we left off, Naru had just run to Nephrite's arms. Things could get a bit on the side of unpleasant, couldn't they?

~~~^_^~~~

~Naru~

"Have we met?"

That wasn't the answer I wanted to hear from a long lost love. I pulled away and looked at him, then at Makoto, who was red in the face.

"Don't you remember me? Naru-chan?" I asked.

He went from curious to sheet white.

"Um, Naru-chan, this is my friend, Nephrite." Makoto announced.

Nephrite's eyes went wide in surprize.

"Naru!"

"Hai!"

He looked quickly to Makoto. Who looked at me after an instant of thinking to herself. "Where's Umino?"

"I don't know."

"Nani?"

"Umino is my boyfriend." I said casually.

I regretted those words the instant they came out of my mouth, for Nephrite turned around and didn't look back.

~~~^_^~~~

~Nephrite~

"That was a little too close for comfort." Makoto exclaimed as we turned the corner.

"Hai, I could just imagine the look on her face the minute I mentioned Ran." I remarked. Makoto seemed surprized by my comment. I gave her a curious look.

"Why on earth are you looking at me that way?" I asked.

"That's the first time I've heard anyone else call her anything but 'the baby'. It just surprized me I guess." She managed.

I smiled and kissed Makoto on the forehead. She wasn't short to the point where I had to bend down extensively to do that, which was nice. She stared at me with her stunning green eyes and I could only smile and take her cheek in my hand.

"Have I ever told you how amazing you are to me?" I asked her softly.

"Iie." Makoto replied.

"Well, your hair and your eyes compliment each other perfectly. You know just how to move to make a guy go crazy, and you're the right height so no one has to make an extensive effort to be affectionate. The best part has to be your personality, though. Firey, like Rei, but calm as well, like Ami. You have a blend that no other could ever manage. Along with wonderful cooking skills. I never meant to hurt you at the party that night. You had this wonderful smile that would convince any person to do that. I wanted to make sure it was what fate had alligned." I told her.

Makoto blushed and pulled away slightly, smiling. "Arigato."

~~~^_^~~~

~Makoto~

I couldn't help the smiling inside as he talked. It was as if he meant everything. Nephrite put an arm around me after I pulled away.

"Where are we going again?" he asked.

"You said you wanted to talk. What did you want to talk about?" I answered.

"I just said it."

"Would you like to come back and have some coffee and cookies or something? They're still fresh." I offered.

"Sounds wonderful."

~~~

I woke up on the couch the next morning next to Nephrite, unable to determine what we had been doing when we had fallen asleep. I slowly got up and walked into the kitchen to make some tea, putting the kettle on and turning on the stove. I turned around to have a broad chest in my face. Nephrite was groggy, but awake.

"You could have waken me." he grumbled.

"Iie, men are pains when you wake them up." I insisted.

Nephrite grabbed me around the waist and raised his eyebrows.

"Not when it's you waking me."

"Get some coffee, you sound better with a functioning head." I replied, pulling away. The first reaction was getting tickled, the second was Nephrite starting the coffee pot.

~~~^_^~~~

~Rei~

I walked down to Makoto's apartment number and rang the doorbell. Considering we wouldn't be there when baby Ran was born, I was allowed to be the one to retrieve her for our surprize. Jadeite was also hoping I would catch them making love or in robes. I knew he would be more than sadly disappointed. Makoto answered the door in yesterday's clothes, which looked like she had fallen asleep in them, I smiled.

"Morning sunshine, what brings you here this early in the morning?" Makoto greeted.

"We have a surprize for you. I'm just glad you weren't in bathrobes." I said.

I could hear Nephrite swearing in the background and I giggled. Then he headed into the shower.

"We'll have to wait until I can get a shower. Which might take a while with that one." Makoto said, nodding in the direction Nephrite had gone.

"Fair enough. I'll just call them."

I quickly dialed the number and let everyone know, then sat down with Makoto and a cup of tea.

"So, how are things? Feeling any different in opinion?" I asked.

Makoto shrugged. "I'm not quite sure. I might change opinion after eight months with him. But, since I'm now engaged to Shinozaki, I'm not entirely sure that I want to leave. I still love him..."

I put a hand on Makoto's and smiled gently.

"I think they might need to make an exception and just let you handle this baby alone, and away from everything." I said. Makoto's reply was a curious look.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I mean, maybe you should get away from everyone. Stay on your own for a while and just think of things. Know any places where you could do that?" I explained.

Makoto shrugged. "Before it was just the temple, but there is this one place near where I used to live... that's a bit far away though."

Nephrite came out and looked at us curiously, then Makoto quickly exited and Nephrite sat down. He watched me for a moment, then spoke.

"What were you just talking about?" He asked me.

"Just an idea I came up with." I said casually.

"Which would be....?"

"What if she didn't stay with you guys?"

"How would that help her to get along better with any of us? Where's she going to live? With Shinozaki? That will really help all of us won't it?" Nephrite remarked cynically.

"Iie, she knows a place away from everyone where she can live alone." I countered.

"What about when she's late in the pregnancy? If she comes early?" Nephrite argued.

"One of us can visit periodically. She's still undecided on a lot of important matters. She needs to think without any influence in order to be happy in her final decision. During the last months one of us can stay with her. She'll probably have made a final conclusion by then." I informed him.

"I still don't like the idea." Nephrite muttered, taking a drink of coffee.

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Look at it this way. If you were pregnant and weren't sure of the father regardless of what you have seen yourself, on top of a swimming of emotions, how would you feel with everyone bothering you and influencing how you think constantly? That's exactly what she's going through. The only thing that will help her is to be independent. That's how she always has been, and independent, smart person." I argued at him.

Nephrite glared at me, defeated in the debate. "I'll talk to the rest of the idiots and see what they think of it. I can tell you right now they won't agree to it, and I go with them entirely."

"Speak for yourself, you four have to live with hell's fury, not me." I said casually.

Nephrite started to speak then Makoto walked out.

"Alright, let's get going."

I grinned and took Makoto's arm, walking off with her. Nephrite followed silently.

~~~^_^~~~

~Makoto~

I walked into the temple and nearly screamed, my nails digging into Rei for a moment. In front of me was an entire array of baby items...clothes, blankets, toys, a crib, a stroller, and everything else imaginable in the center in front of me. Along with all the senshi. My mouth was gaping open, trying to find words.

"Surprize." Haruka said, grinning.

"Kami-sama...I haven't seen this much baby stuff since I walked in the nursery." I muttered.

"Agreed." Nephrite said.

ChibiUsa came up to me and handed me a cloth-bound book. I looked at the covering and realized it was a patchwork quilt. All of my past fuku, and memories full of events. How they managed that, I have no idea. I opened the booklet and found a scrapbook loaded with pictures, paintings, and newspaper clippings of all of us. The further I went in, the more unique each page began. It was an array of different battles, and what we were doing in normal lives that same week. Rei and Ami came out with a large blanket and a cake. Again, the blanket was a patchwork quilt, and our names were embroidered between the fabrics. I smiled and sat down, taking the cake that Rei handed me.

"You have no idea what this does to me... now I know how much I'm going to miss you guys." I managed.

I took a bite of the cake, it was better than any I had ever made. "Who on earth made this? It's the most delicious thing I ever tasted." I asked, amazed. They had made it better than me.

"All of us chipped in, but mainly Usagi. Ami just checked that everything was right." Minako said.

I choked. Usagi made this?!?!?!? I couldn't believe my ears. This was deliecious! Maybe all the cooking lessons had paid off after all. Then I thought of it. Unless there was a change in plans, I would be leaving in three days. I didn't think I could stand that. Especially being so far from Shinozaki. I shook my head and sighed. Rei could almost tell what was running through my mind, but she didn't let on as the afternoon continued. I simply put on a happy face and continued on as if nothing was wrong. They were the most wonderful friends I had ever had. Actually, they were close to the only ones, except for the rare few, and, of course, Shinozaki. He had always been there, since we were little.

I got home and sat down, listening to all the messages, one from Rei, telling me everything would be fine, one from Usagi asking if I was okay, one from Nephrite saying he loved me, and one from Shinozaki saying he wanted to take me to dinner at seven. I looked at the clock. I had two hours. I picked up the phone and dialed his number.

"Moshi moshi." I smiled at the sound of his voice on the other line.

"It's Mako-chan." I replied.

"Makoto! I was worried you were missing or something!" Shinozaki exclaimed, almost laughing on the other side.

"So, where are we going to dinner?" I asked.

"Anywhere you want to go. Just, not where people can call you, I want to spend some time with my fiance."

"How about that new resturant downtown? I heard it's pretty good, and quiet." I suggested.

"Sounds great. I can head over around six-thirty. I can't wait to see you."

"I can't wait to see you. I've been so busy, it will be nice to unwind and see someone I love." I remarked, meaning every word. While it was nice spending time with everyone until I left, I had to spend some time with my beau before I left him too.

"Well, have you spent any time with our baby's biological father? I mean, he does have a right to see you too." Shinozaki told me on the other line.

"Actually, the rest of the gang gave me a baby shower today. He was there with us." I said casually. It was almost as if nothing was wrong, then I remembered what was going to happen in three days.

"That's good. He needs to spend some time with the family."

"Um, Shinozaki, I might be going away for a while, until the baby is born."

"When is this?"

"Three days from now." I managed.

"Well then, I guess the two of us have to spend as much time as possible together in the meantime."

"Hai, we will." I smiled. Maybe things would be okay.

~*~*~*~

I'm really irritating with this aren't I? Don't worry, it's actually getting close to the end of the story, so I won't be doing this too long. Just relax and wait for the next part. Ja ne!