Disclaimer: I wish I owned Sailor Moon, but wishes won't wash dishes.
Thank you for all the GREAT reviews: Acknowledgements to Kalliegrl, Sailor Star Super, serena221, mae-E, and koldy.
Kalliegrl: OMG, your theory is sooooo close!
Last Chapter:
"NO! Rini, do not do it!" Amy cried, sensing what the child was preparing herself to do. It was as if Rini were waiting for that phrase. She seemed to know that what she was about to do would evoke response, exactly what children wanted from their parents, guardians, babysitters (giggle), etc. She let the little key slide from her fingertips and fall, fall, fall many stories down.
"Bye bye!" Rini called as it descended.
The Senshi ran over to the window, just barely in time to see it hit the solid ground with an almost incoherent clink!
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"Dammit!" Mina swore.
"Please don't tell me Rini threw the key and I am now stuck in here," Lita moaned dejectedly, eyes closed in preparation for bad news.
"Um…Lita? If you're expecting the worse, you got the worst," Raye returned pessimistically.
"Thanks," Lita replied sarcastically. She gave a humungous groan. "Guess I should just make myself at home in this little space, huh? Shall I make a bed out of the baby clothes? Or maybe you should just order my coffin now, low-priced."
"Er… it's not that bad, Lita…" Amy tried to remain optimistic. "I can go get the key, if you guys watch Rini." Reluctantly, Mina and Raye agreed. Rini followed Amy to the door, watching curiously with big, sparkling red eyes and hands held behind her back mischievously. Mina and Raye followed close behind the child, ready to grab her at a moment's notice.
"Bye Rini, see you in a sec!" Amy called, falsely cheery voice in place. She opened the door and stepped out quickly, but not before a blur of pink whished by her, lightning-fast and down the hall. It was gone in a matter of nanoseconds. Amy turned around to the girls, who both had looks of 'Oh god, we're dead' on their faces.
"That was Rini, wasn't it?" Amy asked, eyes closed like Lita was when she knew the end was near and hoping to God it wasn't, but she pretty much already knew the answer. Who else had bubblegum pink hair and was a menacing runner? She looked to both of their faces and they all shouted:
"Well let's get her!" They all ran down to the reception desk. Out of breath, Raye demanded:
"Miss, did a little pink haired kid just run down here?" The receptionist smiled sweetly.
"Yep, and right out the door! Why?" Raye turned red in the face; her temper that had been boiling low sudden ranging up into a volcano.
"Uh oh….Raye's mad," Mina stated. "Take cover." They covered their ears for Raye's famous yelling.
"WHY? WHY? I'LL TELL YOU WHY! THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND'S KID AND SHE'S GONNA KILL US BECAUSE HER CHILD JUST RAN OUT THE DOOR!" Raye screamed. "WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HER?" The receptionist, now equally angry, screamed back:
"WELL IF I HAD KNOWN I WOULD HAVE, BUT AM I QUEEN ALL-KNOWING?" Amy tapped Raye's shoulder.
"WHAT?" Raye yelled at the top of her lungs, temper reaching high-point.
"I think it'd do better if we went to look for Rini before she dies or gets hurt, rather than fighting. Kinda would help now, wouldn't it?" she put out bluntly. Raye tried to get calm, telling herself to 'Go to her happy place'.
"OK," she agreed, dropping her voice back to reasonable level. They went outside while the receptionist wished them a curt "Good luck."
"We should each go one way and call on the communicator if we find her or anything else that belongs to Rini," Amy said (Lita was completely forgotten in their mad quest to find Rini).
"Right!" they cried. Each split up, running franticly, but after an hour and no word they began to get worried.
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Rini was running down an alley, giggling. Suddenly, she bumped into something hard and fell down. Her crying instincts kicked in and she wailed, looking up as the tears flowed out. Three men were looking down at her, face mixed expressions of bewildered shock and dubious confusion.
"Who's this?" one asked. He reached down to touch Rini but she screamed harder and louder, fearful of these strangers. She wanted Mommy to make these bad, freaky men to go away! Suddenly, a crescent moon appeared on her forehead and the moonbeam appeared. Powerful surges of energy erupted out from the girl's insignia and light up the sky and area around her. All the girls saw it and began running towards the light.
Meanwhile, the three looked at the girl, stunned as the moonbeam got less powerful and then faded entirely. However, the marked sign upon her forehead remained, as did the little sniffling sobs.
"The crescent moon symbol…" one said, awed.
"Then this child…" the second began.
"Is one of the members of the Moon family! But who?' the third finished. Their question was answered as the three Senshi ran to the crying girl.
"Rini!" Raye exclaimed, nerves unquenching as relief washed over. She scooped up Rini, who instantaneously ceased her trembling crying.
"Raye! Mina! Amy!" the first figure cried out in recognition and greeting. It was the Three Lights, or in Senshi form, the Sailor StarLights!
"Seiya! Taiki! Yaten!" Raye shrieked. She was very surprised to see her former Senshi allies and friends, who had left a year or two back to head home to their planet. Not long after, Serena and Darien had wed. Amy and Mina blushed. Both had a crush on one of the StarLights- Taiki and Yaten. Seiya had had a crush on Serena but that was a while ago, and later he learned about Darien and gave up, but he and Serena were still good friends.
"Hey you guys. Why're you here?" Mina questioned casually, but the bright red face remained, concealing her nervous feelings.
"We decided to visit you guys for a bit. Where are Serena, Darien, Lita, and the Outers?" Yaten asked, genuinely curious.
"Well, we haven't heard from the Outers since Serena and Darien's wedding," Raye began.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down and backtrack! Serena and Darien are married?" Seiya cut in loudly, disbelief written all over his face and something that looked suspiciously like jealous sadness. Mina giggled, knowing how Seiya felt about Serena. Perhaps he wasn't fully over his infatuation yet.
"Yep! And here's living proof of it!" Mina said, pointing to Rini. Raye held her out, giving the Starlights a closer look of the child. Each moved closer to observe her, but they were still nonplussed, not yet getting the big picture. The three were still in shock that Serena and Darien were officially married.
"Who is she?" Taiki asked lightly. He went to pat Rini's head but she tried to bite him and growled. He jumped back with a yelp.
"What the heck!" he exclaimed.
"That's Serena and Darien's kid, Rini. The future Princess," Raye informed proudly, a touch of love in her voice, despite what the terror had done to her.
"THAT'S Serena and Darien's kid!" Taiki cried. "What've they been feeding her, dog food?"
"See, that's what we've been wondering. We're baby-sitting this little terror for Serena and Darien 'cause they're on a date, courtesy of us," Mina chimed in.
"Maybe we can help," Yaten offered, winking at Mina. She blushed again.
"Speaking of which, where is Lita?" Seiya asked, for the Senshi had yet to answer that question.
"LITA?"
"Shit, we forgot all about her!" Raye cursed, and indeed they had.
"She's been locked in that closet for an hour!" Amy cried. "And we forgot to get that key, what with our mad Rini-hunt! We have to go retrieve it still!"
"LOCKED IN A CLOSET?" the StarLights echoed, the first of Amy's sentence not going down lightly with them. "How?" The girls pointed at Rini who giggled again.
"Was that some evil laugh?" Seiya asked.
"Course not! She's a baby, that's how she laughs!" Raye defended.
"An evil baby, if you ask me. Locking people in closets? Definitely not normal," Taiki added, on the offensive side of the argument. Amy sighed.
"That's just a taste of what she does," she told omnisciently. "Now we should get back before Lita goes crazy. I know I would in a locked closet for an hour." So, they all ran high speed back to the apartment, stopping along the way to salvage back the key, which luckily was still where it had been dropped. Amy kept it tightly clasped in her hand, far away from the devil child's prying hands. On passing the reception desk, the receptionist gave them a tart:
"So, found the kid. Good, eh." Raye ignored her with difficulty and Mina and Amy had to drag her way.
"One day," Raye muttered under her breath, unconsciously flexing her muscles in a dangerous way.
They ran into the apartment and Raye set Rini in Seiya's arms, who held her away from him and like a potential bomb (which, in theory, she was), unsure of what to do. At the moment, he didn't really care if this was Serena's kid or not. Rini just gazed at the closet eagerly, as if to see what she did.
Raye unlocked the closet door and opened it slowly, the door creaking slightly as they all prepared themselves for what they were about to see.
"Lita…?"
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A/N: What will they encounter? Has Lita finally cracked? Stay tuned and find out!
ReViEwS aRe ApPrEcIaTeD!