A/N: Well, here's my next chapter! Tomorrow Finals start (yikes!)...but I thought I'd take a study break: ) Special thanks to Riza-4789 for being my first reviewer!

Riza-4789: Yay! My first-ever review response! Yipee! (srry, i'm a bit hyper, as you can tell!) So glad you liked it, here's some more! Thanks for your review!

xsummerbabyx: Thanks for your review! I'm glad it's one of your faves! btw, I love your fics!

rock'n'rollbitch: Bridget is my favorite, too. I love the Bridget/Eric thing, too, so expect to see a lot of that inhere. This is probably going to be mostly about Bridget (she's easiest for me to write), but I'm gonna work in some Carmen and Tibby, and I've got somestuff in mind for Lena, so you'lldefinately be seeing some of her, too. Thanks for your review.

NeNa666: Here's some more! Thanks for your review.

CHAPTER ONE: HOMECOMING

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." –Helen Keller

Bridget ripped open a recently purchased package of extra-large bobby pins and slid one into the lock, jiggling it expertly. Carmen, Lena, and Tibby huddled behind her anxiously. The lock clicked, and they were in. Now the only thing that separated them from the aerobics studio where their pregnant mothers, as well as countless others, sweated it out was a customary race up a darkened staircase.

Traditionally, once they got up there (a considerable feat – Tibby would trip over Lena's feet, who would stumble all over Carmen, and they would all bump into Bee, who would be the first one up, but then stop dead in the doorway) they would spread out the goods: Tibby would lay out all her junk food, Lena would prepare the ambience (old blankets and candles, but still) and Carmen would play some dated music, while Bridget just messed around.

This time was no different. But instead of taking a leisurely amount of time gathering in a small, tight-knit circle, they all performed their tasks quickly. All four of them longed for the closeness they had missed during the school year, and quickly gathered together.

Carmen revealed the Pants dramatically, pulling them from her bag behind her and laying them out in the middle of their little ring. Reverently, Lena removed the slightly wrinkled Manifesto from the back pocket of the Pants, unfolded it neatly, and smoothed it out on the scuffed floorboards before passing it to Bridget.

Bee cleared her throat importantly before beginning. "We, the Sisterhood, hereby instate the following rules to govern the use of the Traveling Pants," she read. She glanced up at her three friends before ad-libbing, "For this, our fourth summer, which will, tragically, be spent apart." She continued passing the sheet of Gilda's stationary she had, years ago, swiped from the small office.

Tibby took it and read aloud the first two rules. "You must never, ever wash the Pants. No matter what. Also, you must never double-cuff the Pants. Let's face it. It's tacky. And there will never be a time when this will not be tacky." Then just to mix things up, she passed it back to Bee, on her right.

"You must never say the word 'phat' while wearing the Pants. You must also never say, or even think, Carmen," Bridget continued, looking pointedly at her friend, " 'I am fat' while wearing the Pants." She passed it to Lena.

Lena read the fourth rule. "You must never let a boy take off the Pants. That means all three of you. The rule does state, however, than you may take them off yourself in his presence. But a general rule of thumb, you guys, just keep your Pants on." Carmen, Bridget, and Tibby smiled amusedly. Lena continued with the fifth. "You must not pick your nose while wearing the Pants. But you can scratch casually at your nostril while really kind of picking. This rule of social etiquette is courtesy of Tibberon."

"Upon our reunion," Carmen recited, "you must follow the proper procedures for documenting your time in the Pants, as suggested by Bee. And you must write to your Sisters religiously throughout the summer –"

"Especially those stuck here, again," Tibby cut in.

"-no matter how much fun you are having without them," Carmen finished.

"You must not wear the Pants with a tucked-in shirt, and/or belt due to extreme tackiness. See rule number two for details," Tibby read. "Remember, Pants equal love."

She passed the sheet to Bee, who added, "Love your pals."

Lena finished, "And love yourself."

They let this sink in appropriately, and just looked at each other in the flickering candlelight, savoring this temporary togetherness. Then they laughed, and ate, and laughed, and ate some more, reliving past summers (the good parts, at least) and exploits and discussing this summer's plans, all the while managing to avoid the topic of their summer separation and, worse yet, the inevitable parting at the beginning of this next school year.

For now, it didn't matter. They could stay here as late (or as early, as the case may be) as they wanted. As was previously decided, this time was for the Septembers only. Boyfriends, they all agreed, were to be entirely neglected (well, taking phone calls was admissible) for the next few days in favor of their own friendship. This seemed fair.

They decided that the Pants would go first to Carmen, then Bridget, who would pass them onto Tibby, and finally Lena. After that, they would bounce back to Carmen, then Tibby, then Bridget, and Lena again.

The four of them spread the Pants out in center of the circle, to admire them. With her finger, Bridget traced the words she had written in the years before. 'Baja, California.' Bee regretted much of what had happened there, but a lot had changed since then. Now she was going back. 'Learning about my mother.' That brought her back to where she was now. 'Love & Sick.' It seemed fitting, considering the end of last summer. 'Starting over'. This was even more appropriate. 'Soccer field.' At least that much had stayed the same.

Carmen decided it was time to be ceremonial again. "So this is the beginning," she said, in her special voice. "Bee will go off and face her demons in Baja. Lenny will be nurturing all her artistic talent with Annik. Tibby will stay here, too, and work on filming. And I…I am going to do something. I just don't know what. So let the fourth summer of the Pants begin."

A/N: There you go! Now I really have to go study (I'm serious, this time, I swear!)! Please review...you know you can't resist. And I promise to faithfully respond to all of reviews, cuz I love them all: ) I'll try to update soon, but the earliest I'm able will probably be around Wednesday, (cuz I get out for the summeron Tuesday! yay!)