A/N: I'm back! Let's face it, I suck at updating. Sorry about that. It's kinda sad to think that this was pretty much the first second-generation story on this site, and yet it's the least updated. :tear: I better get caught up before my story becomes completely unoriginal! Hehehe.

Disclaimer: The little "To honor the Pants and the Sisterhood…" chant? That's from Ann Brashares, not me. I just added the Legacy bit for my own evil purposes. For the full story disclaimer, see Ch. 1, aka Prologue.

"Today is where your book begins" –Natasha Bedingfield

Teena felt a hand on her shoulder as someone shook her awake. She groaned in the darkness. "Rise and shine," her mother said cheerily.

Teena sat up slowly, squinting at her alarm clock. According to the glowing red numbers, it was 2:08 A.M. "It's not even morning yet," she grumbled.

"Well, technically it is," Bailey pointed out sleepily from somewhere across the room. Three other bodies stirred in the darkness. Apparently Carmen's mission was to awaken all of the girls.

After a bit of shuffling and bumping around (Carmen had refused to turn on the light), the girls found themselves standing in the hallway, face to face with their mothers. "Mom, wanna tell us what the heck's going on?" Teena asked groggily.

"Shush, you'll find out soon," Carmen replied. Carmen was being strange and vague. Teena did not like it when Carmen was strange and vague, especially in the wee hours of the morning. She glared at her mother as best she could in her sleepy haze, which wasn't particularly well.

"All right, to the car!" Lena announced. Bridget handed out cups of coffee as the mothers herded their daughters out the front door and into Lena's minivan.

"Great, we're being kidnapped by our own mothers," Tory muttered as she fiddled with her seatbelt.

Bridget stuck out her tongue in response. "Yeah, well, I'll bet you won't be whining when you find out what we're doing, so ha!"

"I was not whining, Oh Mature One."

"Whatever, Tory."

The car took off. Lena navigated through the dimly lit streets, winding around as though she had no particular destination. Finally she stopped, pulling up in front of a park.

Eva stared as she followed the other girls out of the car. "Um, Mom? You do realize that this is right around the corner from Teena's house, right? I know your sense of direction isn't that bad."

Lena shrugged impassively. "It wasn't my idea to lead you girls around in circles. Blame it on Bee."

Tory rolled her eyes at her mother. "I should have known," she muttered.

Bridget waved all of this off and motioned for the girls to follow her and Tibby. The two moms led them to the sandbox and began spreading out a beach blanket beneath the play equipment. The girls looked at each other and shrugged, still not quite sure what their mothers had in mind.

Carmen and Lena arrived at the play equipment, arms filled with a variety of packages. Both the mothers and the daughters sat down in a circle on the blanket. Lena opened a bag of gummy worms and passed it around while Carmen set up the candles. Tibby cleared her throat.

"All right," she announced, "I think we're ready to begin the ceremony."

Bailey blinked. "Ceremony?"

"That's right, ceremony. But before we begin, we have a little story. Carma, would you do the honors?"

"Of course." Carmen straightened up a bit. "Once upon a time, there was a pair of pants. Now, these pants were not just any pants, however ordinary they might have looked. These were the Traveling Pants, and they were magic. Not only did they make you feel good about yourself, but they made you look really good, too. Many moons ago, four girls discovered the magic of the Pants. They used it to keep them together during their first summer apart, as well as the summers following that. But eventually, the Pants found themselves back in the closet, away from their days in the sun.

"The girls grew up and had daughters of their own, and the time came for the Pants to once again work their magic. Now is that time." She paused dramatically before placing the Pants in the center of the circle.

The daughters listened intently as Bridget took over. "We, the Sisterhood, pass on the Traveling Pants to you, our daughters—Eva, Tory, Bailey, and Teena. Tonight, the Pants have become a legacy. You are our legacy. The Pants rest in your hands now. Use them well." Bridget grinned. "Well, the rest is up to you guys. The Pants have been passed on!"

Teena looked at the glowing faces illuminated by the candlelight. So, this was it. The Pants lay folded in the center of the circle, waiting expectantly. She looked up as Eva cleared her throat and read the Manifesto aloud. After the reading, Lena spoke up.

"You know," she said thoughtfully, "you don't have to abide by those exact specifications. If you have your own twists that you want to add, you can recopy the Manifesto and make your own… I don't know, amendments?"

"You're giving us permission to change the Manifesto?" Eva asked, staring at her mother incredulously.

"Well, it's not like we didn't already—"

"CARMA!"

"Oops. Sorry."

Teena looked from Carmen to the Pants and back to Carmen, eying her mother suspiciously. "Mom, did you wash the Pants?"

"Of course not, Teena, don't be silly," Carmen replied airily, not quite meeting her daughter's eye.

"So, about the Manifesto," Tibby cut in.

The daughters looked at each other. "I vote for leaving it as is," Eva said.

"We might want to find a different way for documenting our Pants time," Bailey suggested.

Tory glanced at the Pants. "Yeah," she agreed. "By the time we're through, there's going to be way too much writing. It might not all fit."

The girls thought for a moment. "How about this," Eva finally said. "We write it down on a little notepad that can fit in the pocket." That idea seemed to work, so they all agreed on it. The mothers smiled proudly.

The circle tightened, and the girls chattered on, excited about the prospect of sharing in the Pants. Their lives had always been connected by a strong link, but now their togetherness seemed stronger than ever, even though they were so close to going their separate ways for the summer. Each of them could see the promise of their own journey within the Pants. It gave new meaning to the coming summer.

They talked so long that Bailey nearly drifted off to sleep on Eva's shoulder. "So," Tibby whispered, "do you think this is it?"

"Yeah," Lena replied softly, "I think so."

Bridget called for a moment of silence, and all the girls looked up. They gathered close, holding hands, and the voices of mother and daughter alike rang out from below the play equipment:

"To honor the Pants and the Sisterhood (and the Legacy)

And this moment and this summer and the rest of our lives

Together and apart."

-

A/N: I hope this little bit about the passing of the Pants does not disappoint. Next chapter is where the main story begins. You get to find out where the girls are going, etc. Husbands/fathers will be revealed in time. And just to make it clear, Eva is Lena's daughter, Tory is Bridget's daughter, Bailey is Tibby's daughter, and Teena is Carmen's daughter. I promise the gap between this chapter and the next chapter will be not nearly as long as last time (5 months… shame on me.)