Serena woke before everyone else at five thirty. She unpacked all her things and decided to go for

her morning jog. Serena got into the habit of jogging over in california. She found out that, for her,

jogging prepairs her for the day. When she got back to her house around six o'clock in the morning

her family still wasnt up yet, so for even more surprises for her family she took a shower and made

breakfast, scrambled eggs, sausages and bacon and a pot of coffee. Just as she was finishing up

her mom and dad walked into the kitchen only to be greeted by Serena and breakfast for everyone.

"Morning Serena how did you sleep"

"Good, mom, how about you two?"

"We slept alright, we're all going to the beach today, right?"

"Yep I promised you I would spend the day with you, by the way when are we leaving?"

"We should leave around eight. I'll go and get Sammy up so we can all have breakfast together."

Serena's mom left the kitchen to go get Sammy up.

"Serena although im not to happy with the motorcycle im really proud at all you've accomplished

you've grown so much." Ken whispered to Serena as he gave her a big hug.

"Thanks dad im happy to hear you say that. Not about the motorcycle of course but everything else"

When Irene and Sammy came back down the four of them sat together at the table to eat asking

Serena about her time in California. of course she left out the details of her boyfriend and the parties

she had with Selene. When they finished up eating the breakfast Serena ushered them out of the

kitchen so that they could get ready and so that she could make lunch for them at the beach.

When they all came back down woken up and ready Serena asked "Mom, dad if its alright with

you guys do you mind if Sammy rides with me, thats of course if he wants to and we'll stop by

a store to get some drinks?"

"Oh please, please mom can i go with Serena please, please, pleaseeeeee?"

"Sure i guess so we'll meet you to at the beach and the first group there will find a good spot on

the sand how about that?"

"Yeah alright. Sweeeeeet!"exclaimed an excited Sammy.

As they all got there vehicles Serena and Sammy rode off to find the nearest store to buy drinks

for the day. She knew her parents were talking about the way she's changed.

(AN : bold is for Ken regular is for Irene)

"So what do you think of the new Serena Ken"

"Well she sure is different, the problem is though do we like this change in her I mean

when we sent her off to Selene I thought she was just going to come back the same

Serena with more maturity but it seems she came back a totally different person"

"I know what you mean i just dont know how were going to deal with this. I miss the old Serena"

"I do to but we wanted her to become more responsible and now she is, shes become

independant and mature. Why dont we just have a good day today and who knows

maybe after a while she'll go back to her old self."

"Your right Ken we'll just leave it alone, for now"

"Ok sammy what kind of drinks should we get?"

"Why dont we get juice and pop. Orange juice and...Sprite. Is that ok with you Serena?"

"Sounds good to me Sammy. Ok lets go pay for the dinks and beat mom and dad to the beach."

"Ok um... Serena I missed you"

"Oh I missed you too Sammy"

They gave each other a big warm hug, paid for their drinks and raced to the beach.

When they got to the beach they couldnt find their parents anywhere so they went and found the

best spot on the beach and considering no one else was there it was pretty easy to look. They

settled down on their blanket and put some lotion on while they were waiting for their parents.

"Serena why did you change so much?" Sammy asked his sister

"Well for a couple of reasons Sammy. One mom and dad want me to change. They wanted me to

be more mature and responsible ,but i know thats not what you meant. Second the real reason i

changed so much is because everyone didnt seem to like me the way i was. I was always being

made fun of, teased, being critisized and when mom and dad said they were going to send me to

California i decided to start a new leaf, be the other side of me that was bursting to get out. I'm still

the same girl i was when i left it's just now its harder to see."

"I liked you the way you were Serena, and i like who you are now. I dont mind which person you

want to be just as long as you stay my sister. I love you Serena."

"I love you to Sammy"

For the second time in half an hour the two siblings embraced each other in another warm hug but

this one was different this one held a connection between brother and sister, best friends.

"So Serena what did you pack for lunch?" Asked Irene interupting their warm hug.

"Well i packed alot. We have sushi, domburi with tempura, onigiri and sashimi." Replied Serena.

"Wow that is alot well how about we sit and talk while we're waiting for the waves to dye down?"

"Acctually mom i put my surf board in the back of your car so i could surf for a bit if you dont mind?"

"Oh okay sure well you go and hit the waves and we'll sit back and watch"

Serena went and got the board, attached it to her ankle and ran into the water.

Her parents couldnt believe that the 17 year old girl that was shy, conservative and quiet turned into

this outgoing, mature and independant adult. The watched in amazement as she surfed the waves.

They remembered her being afraid of the waves. When she came back from the water around noon

they all sat down and ate their lunch while Serena told them all about America and the people there.

She told them how Selene introduced her to all of Selenes friends, her job as a waitress at a club

called Starlights and what school was like over there. At around four o'clock they decided to start

heading back home and because Sammy was so tired he decided to ride with his parents on the

way back.

"I'll be home in a bit im just going to go look around for some job oppertunities alright"

"No problem Serena we'll see you later"

As Serena packed up her things Lita had come up to her after her parents left to talk to Serena.

"Serena i'm really sorry about yesterday" Lita apologized.

"Lita listen i should be apologizing to you. You and Sammy were they only ones who didnt want

me to go. You two were the only ones who liked me for who i was. I shouldnt have treated you like that.

I know this is no excuse but i was so pissed off at everyone else who were happy to see me go. And

now that im back and different still no likes me for who i am except for Sammy."

"Serena thats not true we all missed you while you were gone. Me, Amy, Raye, Mina, Andrew and ,as

hard as this is to believe, Darien spent all our time in the arcade talking about you. We all thought is

was just one big dream that you would come in like you always did get in a fight with Darien and come

sit with us. I'm not supposed to tel you this but im going to anyways. The day after you left Darien was

wondering where you were, and when we told him, he well... he cried, right there in the arcade infront

of everyone. I never thought id see the day when Darien would cry but he did. It wasnt hysterical crying

but he had tears falling down his face for hours. Raye and him talked for hours and she ended up crying

too, hell we all did Serena we couldnt believe that you were gone. I just wanted to tell you that and i

hope that you will come to the arcade again. Everyone wants to apologize. Will you think about it please?"

"Lita come sit on the sand with me i want to tell you everything that happened out in California. When i

arrived in California i decided to start a new life, a life that i wanted to live, i wanted to do things i really

wanted to do. Selene took me out shopping so i could get new clothes. After a couple of days of meeting

her friends it was time to start school again and for the first time in my life i enjoyed school. I took a whole

bunch of new classes like mechanics and welding and i went on with the normal classes. As months went

on i still hadnt found a job and me and Selene were running low on money so one night i went out to find a

job but i had no such luck. On my way back home i was mugged. Luckly Seiya was walking by the alley

that the mugger dragged me into and saved me. He then walked me home and we talked about everything.

When i mentioned i needed a job he asked me to come work for him as a waitress at his bar. After i accepted

everything went up hill from there. I took karate classes so i could defend my self, and since i was making

so much money, cause the tips were great, i decided to get a vehicle. Thats where the cycle came in. I

loved it out there. Me and Seiya ended up dating and he was so sweet he respected the fact that i wanted

to wait till i was married to have sex and i still stick by that. When it came the day for me too come back

to Tokyo everyone was depressed they all told me how much they would miss me, they even threw a going

away party for me. I got to say good my to all my friends and in away it was the happiest and saddest day

of my life . I found friends who loved me enough to say they'll chain me to my bed till i agree to stay, they

were only joking though. Me and Seiye decided to be friends because a long distance relationship would

be to hard for us."

"Serena im sorry we all acted like we were happy to see to go but we thought that would be easier than

crying your eyes out. Im sorry."

"Its ok Lita i'll tell you what, if you come with me we'll go to the arcade right now. What do you say?"

"Sure"