Disclaimer: My sincere gratitude to Takeuchi-sensei who created this wonderful world for us to dream in. respectful bow in the general direction of Japan As we all know, all rights belong to her. I hope you enjoy my portrayal of her creations.

I'm HO-OME... ^-^ For a few days at least. And so, as a special treat to all those who have been waiting, I will be updating pretty quickly to try and catch up. Enjoy!

I do not write for reviews, but I sure enjoy compliments, constructive criticism, and grammatical corrections. So if you feel like it, please press that little review button, and let me know what you think. - Raya

The Sleeper

Chapter 7 – ...And Found

*~*~*~ Juuban District, Tokyo *~*~*~

'Where can she be?' Bessa thought frantically as she ran along the unfamiliar streets. She jostled against strangers, earning glare after glare for her rudeness.

'I've got to find her!' June thought as she ran through a plaza. Suddenly, a tires squealed and a horn blared. Turning her head, she saw a truck coming straight at her. She leapt up, landed on the hood, and jumped off onto the next sidewalk. Behind her, she heard the driver cursing in fear and anger. She ignored him, and continued to run as people stared after her.

'Lady-chan! I'm sorry. Please. Please be safe!' Celeste ran across a bridge, then paused, looking at the people below searching for one with pink hair in pointed odangos.

'Where could she be? Did she go to her friend's house? Oh, why didn't I go ask Unazuki-san where her friends live! I can't just go around asking people if they know someone named Usagi-san!' Pallas paused on a corner, waiting for the light to turn green, and debated going back to Crown. She had just turned, when Celeste's voice came over her communicator.

"I've found her! Hurry! That woman is there, and it looks like she has friends!"

Bessa, June, and Pallas checked the tracker screen, then rushed to Celeste's location.

*~*~*~*~

Celeste felt numb with relief when she finally spotted the girl she was searching for in a playground. She was talking to a woman and a man leaning on a red bike. She took two running steps forward, then stopped again as she saw the woman in the black skirt suit walk up. The two people by the bike smiled a quick greeting. A greeting that Lady didn't see, since she was looking at the newcomer.

Celeste quickly triggered the homing device in her communicator, clicked Lady's communicator off the "All Call", and paged the other searchers. "I've found her! Hurry! That woman is there, and it looks like she has friends!" She didn't wait for an acknowledgment.

She reached for her heshin stick as she rushed to the park, then let her hand stop. 'They look pretty normal. And if I transform, I might alert them to my presence. And their other friends, too. Better not chance it yet.'

When she got close enough to the group, she yelled in a cold voice: "Leave her alone!" She ran up and stopped behind the pink haired girl.

Lady spun completely around, and stared at Celeste in surprise. The lady in black had the gall to smile and nod in greeting. The other two looked at her, cold, neutral expressions fading into faint amusement. "Celeste-chan?"

"It's all right now. You're not alone," Celeste said, looking her princess in the eye. Lady just blinked in confusion. Celeste turned her attention back to the other three people. "I won't let you hurt her," she said in a determined voice. "Ce... Celeste-chan?"

"My," said the aqua-haired woman. "So fierce." The white-haired man beside her just snorted. "You think you could take us all on?" the woman in black asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Setsuna-san," Lady protested, only to be interrupted by Celeste. "Easy. There are only three of you after all." The man began to chuckle, when another voice called out.

"And there are five of us." Bessa, June, and Pallas stepped up to join Celeste in a protective ring around Lady. "Guys, stop it," she demanded. "These are friends."

"Hmmm... Five to three, eh?" the man called out. "Doesn't sound like a very fair fight." He took his helmet off the handlebar and put it on. "Call us when you can find some more backup, ok?"

"What??" Bessa squealed as he mounted up his bike. As the aqua-haired woman got on behind him clutching a violin case, Bessa continued angrily. "What do you mean by that!" The two just laughed. As he started the bike, the man touched two fingers to his helmet in a salute to Lady. "See you around, Little One!" Then, the bike took off back down the street.

"Get back here!" Bessa hollered after the retreating figures. Something like a growl rumbled in her throat as she turned back to the remaining enemy. She saw the amusement in her eyes, and flushed angrily.

"STOP it," Lady demanded again. And once again, she was interrupted. "I'll pass your message along," Setsuna said quietly. "Farewell for now."

"Setsuna-san! Wait!" Lady started to run after the woman, but was stopped by June's hand on her arm. "Let me go. What are you guys doing?" She spun around and glared at her friends, who just smiled back at her. "Our duty," Pallas replied.

"Friends, huh? Some friends they are," June added. "They have no idea who we are, yet they left you alone with us."

Lady blinked as her anger died down. "They know you're my friends," she said softly. "But, what... what are you doing here? I thought you were going home?"

The four girls flushed a little, and looked away. Celeste stepped forward, holding out the Time Key. "Our duty is here," she said, "protecting you and... your friend." "Yeah," Pallas added. "We're sorry it took us a while to understand that, but..." "Can you forgive us?" Bessa ended quietly. Slowly, Lady nodded. And then the five girls joined together into one giant group hug.

"So now what?" June asked a few minutes later. "Are you still looking for your friends?" Pallas added.

Lady nodded, then shrugged. "They'll show up eventually. First... I think we'll go this way." She turned and led her friends back onto the street. They walked along quietly, the guardians eying everyone around them suspiciously. Lady ignored them.

A few blocks later, as they approached the corner, Lady began to hug the wall. Her friends looked at her in puzzlement, then began to do the same. She crept up on the corner, then peeked around it. The sidewalk in front of them was clear. Smiling, she stood up, and walked around the corner, then turned into the first gate on the right. Her friends followed her, then blinked as she walked right up to a two story house and knocked on the door.