Sailor Moon NeoStars: What The Future Holds

Chapter 2: Pancake Party

Author's Notes: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed Chapter 1!! (Including the people who reviewed before I combined chapters 1-4) huggles all the reviewers Hope you enjoy chapter 2!! It came out as 7 pages long on Microsoft Word. Hope that's long enough for you!! ^_^

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. Hope you enjoy it!! Chapter 3 is going to be called "Jupiter's Spaz Attack." Tell me what you think of the story so far? Am I doing a good job? Remember, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!! (Just a hint: The more reviews I get, the faster I update.) ^_^

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The next morning around 10:30 a.m., Triston finally found the strength to return to the world of the living. He took a deep breath while his eyes were still closed; he honestly had no idea what he'd find when he opened them. Shifting his weight, he realized he was no longer lying on the ground. He was lying on something - soft?

Triston took another deep breath clearing the fog from his mind. The last thing he remembered, his mother had shown up. Perhaps, she had brought him back to his room in the East Wing of the Castle? The covers were warm atop of him. It didn't take a genesis to figure out he was in bed, but then, it was too soft to be his own.

Maybe the hospital wing then? Their beds were soft - to soft in his opinion. It wouldn't be the first - or even the second - time he'd awoke in the hospital wing. It'd be no surprise to find Sailor Mercury - out of senshi form of course - standing nearby.

Taking one last deep breath, Triston reached up pulling the covers down to about his waist. Immediately, a cold shiver ran down his back. "Damn high- powered air conditioning." He thought with annoyance. He must have powered down out of his armor at some point. His shirt had been removed he noticed.

Triston ran his hand down over his left side. The cut - or cuts to be more accurate - had been dressed and wrapped. That had to have been Guardian Mercury's work.

It was the Hospital Ward just as he'd suspected. Oh, well. No use being in a hurry to get up. If there was one thing he knew about the Hospital Ward, it was boring as all hell and getting up now wasn't going to pass the time any faster.

Relaxing, he let his mind wander. Soon as Mercury let him out of here, he'd have to address King Endymion-sama concerning the . . . "Oh, shit."

Triston inwardly cursed himself as the events of the night before slowly invaded his mind. Antiny's words came slowly back to him as a gruesome reminder. "King Endymion." Antiny repeated slowly. "You've been fighting King Endymion."

"Aww, man." He groaned. "His Majesty is going to skin me alive. I just know it."

"That might be interesting to watch." Antiny replied with a note of humor.

"Antiny no baka." Triston reluctantly forced his eyes open. Wait a minute. This wasn't the hospital ward. The room he was in was a bedroom - a man's bedroom. It wasn't elaborate enough to be a room in the castle, but it wasn't poor looking. The bed was a King size with blue sheets. Above him was a large window.

Turning, he searched for his "friend" - Antiny. A nightstand beside the bed held a lamp, phone, alarm clock, a small, framed picture, and a vase with but a single red rose. The room was decorated with a fair-sized nightstand, interesting old-fashioned stereo system (They're from the 30th century, remember?), a large cushioned chair, various pictures, three doors (one to the bathroom, one to the closet, one to the living room), and hints of roses everywhere.

Beside the bed in a simple straight-backed chair, Small Lady was asleep with her arms crossed on the side of the bed and her head lying between them. Antiny sat cross-legged in the cushion chair typing furiously into his computer. Triston blinked in confusion. "Um . . .so, where the hell are we?"

"20th century. King Endymion-sama's apartment. Oh, and he goes by Mamoru here."

"20th century?!"

"Yep. Small Lady brought us here to escape the battle."

"Ok." Triston paused. So, this is where Small Lady went to during her extended 'vacations.' He looked down to where Small Lady slept. "Is she going to be alright?"

Finally, Antiny looked up from his computer. "She woke up about half-an- hour after we got to Mamoru-san's apartment. Moth . . . ah, Mercury gave her some medicine for a minor headache. Otherwise, though, she's fine."

Triston smiled fondly at his princess. She looked so peaceful sleeping there with her hair falling all around her. Picking up a stray lock, he pushed it back out of her face. "You know, she cares about you too." Triston blushed immediately denying any feelings for her. Antiny, however, ignored his denial. "She sat by you all night - wouldn't go to bed even when her father tempted her with cookies and milk before bed." Triston smirked. Antiny frowned. "She said she would never forgive herself if anything should happened to you."

Looking up, he studied his friend carefully. "She actually said that?" Triston asked disbelievingly. Antiny nodded silently. "Maybe," He thought. "Naw. She's too young to know anything about love." Triston told himself brushing the previous thought away.

His mind once again wandered back to the King. So, it was the 20th century Endymion he'd attacked. Interesting . . . "Was His Majesty terribly upset?"

"Hard to tell." Antiny replied absently. "He was pretty worked up yesterday." Triston gulped. "He's in the other room with Queen Serenity and two of the outers. Oh and he said he wanted to see you as soon as you were on your feet."

"So, I should probably wait till their gone before I bother him, right?"

"Sure," Antiny replied with a smirk. "If you want to wait until he's alone."

Triston groaned. "Antiny no baka. You're no help." Moving carefully around Small Lady, Triston forced himself onto his feet. "Where's my shirt?" He asked snappishly.

"Back of the chair."

Triston looked back to the chair Small Lady was sitting in. Pulling a forest green t-shirt off the back, he pulled it over his head and headed towards the living room to face Endymion.

(Author's Notes) I'm tempted to stop here ^-^, but I promised longer chapters. So, here goes. . .)

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Opening the bedroom door slowly, Triston reluctantly stepped into the living room where two couples sat across from each other. Usagi and Mamoru shared the couch, while Michiru and Haruka sat side-by-side on the love seat (how appropriate ^_^). The creaking of the bedroom door immediately stopped all conversation and four heads turned to look in Triston's direction. Keeping a straight face, Triston bowed towards Mamoru and Usagi. "You wished to see me, Majesties?"

Rising to his feet, Mamoru walk over in Triston's direction. "So, you finally decided to wake up. You know you've been asleep for almost 12 hours?" Triston remained silent not terribly sure how to respond to this seemingly innocent question.

From the love seat, Haruka looked back scrutinizing the newcomer with some interest. Turning back to face Usagi, Haruka raised her eyebrows in an amused way. "So, this is the one that attacked you, huh?" she asked just a few decimal too loudly.

Triston's face dropped into a worried grimace. As Mamoru came up to him, he kneeled bringing the future king to a surprised halt. Haruka and Michiru watched the exchange with interest - Haruka wearing a look of humorous satisfaction with herself. ^_^

Triston's muscles tightened growing tense. "Please forgive me, Majesty. I . . .ah . . . mistook you for a . . . I never meant to . . . I was only trying to protect the Small Lady . . . like you'd asked me. Please, I . . .I . . ." Triston stammered trying to find the right words.

Mamoru sighed rubbing his temples. "Triston." He stated firmly. Growing silent, Triston looked up with caution. "Stand up."

Finding his feet as ordered, Triston watched Mamoru with unwavering attention. "Calm down." Mamoru told him. "You're not in trouble. We just wanted to make sure you were all right." Turning, he headed back to his seat beside his Usako. "Besides, I'm not Endymion right now. It's just Mamoru. There's no need to be so formal."

"Oh, um . . . ok." Triston paused once again unsure of what to say.

A loud smirk brought his attention in the direction of the kitchen. Leaning against the wall hold a half-eaten ruby-red apple, Damien shot his friend an annoyingly smug grin. "What are you grinning at?" Triston snapped making his way stormily in Damien's direction.

Damien cracked up. "Gomen, Triston-kun." He choked out sounding less than sincere. "You looked like you were about to wet yourself out there."

Triston glared. "You ARE going to wet yourself when I start beating your Martian ASS!!"

"Go ahead and try it." Damien challenged.

"I will." Triston grabbed a hold of one of Damien's wrist.

"Grumble, grumble."

A low moan stopped Triston's attack. "Right after I eat." Damien sweat dropped. (Anime-style!!)

"The kitchen's full." Mamoru told him. "Help yourself." Immediately, Triston headed for the kitchen. Damien leaned back against the wall taking another large bite out of his apple.

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About 11:00am

"Knock. Knock. Knock." A loud knock on the front door caught the attention of the couples in the living room. "I'll get it." Damien offered. Standing off the wall where he had been listening in on the conversation of the two couples, Damien headed to the door, unlocked it, and opened it a crack. Outside were four familiar faces - Ami, Rei, Minako and Makoto.

Minako pushed the door the rest of the way open. "Hey, minna!!"

Mamoru looked up from the couch as the four girls made their way into the apartment. "Nani? What brings you girls here? I thought you were planning a mall trip or something."

"We were." Makoto replied defensively. "We just came to check on Chibiusa and her . . ."

"Friends." Rei finished for her. Damien looked at them both suspiciously.

"Hai!" Minako continued before the other girls could stop her. "And to see what they can tell us about our future husbands."

"MINAKO!!" The three girls yell at her.

"What? It's true." The girls groan, developing sweat drops. (Anime-style).

Damien watched the four future guardians of Crystal Tokyo incredulously as they bickered among themselves. Suddenly, an idea formulated in his mind. "Hey, you want to know something interesting about the future?" He asked with a tempting mysteriousness in his voice. The four guardians stopped their arguing to stare at him. Damien grinned.

"Hai!!" The four of them huddled around him leaning in close.

Damien's eyes sparkled with mystery. "It's a secret." He replied. The girls leaned in even closer eyes glowing with anticipation. His voice dropped to a quiet whisper. "We're not telling you a thing." The girls' faces dropped and they let out a group groan. Laughing, he quickly scooted into the living room behind the love seat and out of the reach of the four annoyed guardians.

They were just about to go after Damien when a familiar voice broke through the silence. " Hey. What's going on? Everyone's here." Once again all eyes turned towards the bedroom door. This time Chibiusa was the center of attention followed by Antiny.

Chibiusa stared at the crowd in the room for but a second before something else caught her attention. Pausing, she took in a deep breath. "What's that smell?"

The others in the room sniffed noticing the smell for the first time. "It's coming from the kitchen." Usagi observed.

Chibiusa took in another deep breath. "It's . . .*sniff sniff* . . . pancakes!!" She announced happily. Within seconds, Chibiusa, Usagi, and the four inners had all piled themselves into the kitchen.

One whole counter was covered in ingredients - flour, eggs, sugar, and milk. Two pans sat upon the two front burners of the stove and to the right, three HUGE piles of pancakes made the groups mouths water. Makoto studied the piles. "Hmm - blueberry, strawberry, and buttermilk."

"Exactly." Triston replied removing the last of the pancakes from the pan setting them on top of the pile. The entire group turned to stare at him. "What?" He replied starring back.

"You made all of those by yourself?" Minako asked mouth dropping open.

Triston looked up at the pile of pancake. "Hmm, yeah."

Usagi and Chibiusa 's mouths were also open - as they drooled over the pancake. "You were going to them all yourself?" She asked never talking her eyes off the piles.

Triston grinned. "Of course not." He looked over at Makoto. "My mother taught me to always make enough for a crowd - just in case. I guess she was right."

"So, I guess a talent for cooking runs in the family, huh?" Ami replied. Triston shrugged.

"That may be so." Rei interrupted. "But, that talents going to go to waste Usagi eats them all BEFORE ANYONE ELSE GETS ANY!!"

Damien glared at Chibiusa. "Yeah, Yam-head. The rest of us want to eat to if you don't mind."

Usagi and Chibiusa looked up. Both had already filled their plates with heaping piles of pancakes. Huffing, both Usagi's stuck out their tongues at the same time and stormed out of the kitchen into the living room to start chowing pancakes. Rei and Damien shared an exasperated sigh.

Taking in the sweet aroma of the remainder of the freshly made pancakes, the rest of the group dug in grabbing plates and filling them with Blueberry, Strawberry, and Buttermilk pancakes.