Thanks to everyone for being so supportive.

To Serene Amethyst, we're flattered that you like our names. We'll tell our mom that; she's the one who named us. (Yes, these are our real names. However, Cynthia always wanted to be named Serena… She was named after a fictitious ghost 'Great Aunt Cynthia', while I was named after a doll our big brother had as a child. Weird I know, but go figure. P.S. You don't even want to know what my twin brother is named…)

I'm also flattered to learn that Cynthia named Usagi's little sister after me!

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On My Own?

.-----------------Chapter 5--------------------.

Usagi had just returned from buying groceries. She went alone, as Taisetsu refused to be dragged up and down the aisles with her. Besides, whenever he was with her he seemed to get so embarrassed when she would place something like toilet paper in the cart. Or, she thought he must have been embarrassed, as he would begin mocking her viscously. "Usagi and her toilet paper." He had, however, kindly agreed to pick her and the groceries up when she was done, and take them home. Or rather, relented only because Hana wanted the food faster. And then only after her request had become a plea, which became a nag…

Taisetsu had said she sounded just like their mother when she nagged, and Kiseki had burst into laughter, agreeing. "How do I sound like she did?" "Everything. The voice, the tone, the movements. Everything."

This was not reassuring, and it just made Usagi miss their mother even more. 'I'm too young to play nagging mom, especially to my own siblings. I wish mom were here. But she and dad are gone. And I have to be parent to my older jerk of a brother and the babies.'

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Jadeite – or the creature in possession of his body – was glad to be back on the surface. It had been far too long since he had enjoyed the bright glow of the sun. For so long he and the others of the Dark Kingdom had been trapped in near suspension in the frozen caves of the arctic.

But now things were changing. Now the Dark Kingdom was free. Now he was free.

All he had to do was collect more energy to free more of his comrades, so that they in turn could gather more energy to free their Great Leader.

Well, collecting energy was his secondary goal. His primary goal, and the one he was uniquely qualified for, was to tear the senshi apart by destroying one Sailor Mars.

'Ah yes, life is good.'

He was so looking forward his first sighting of the senshi. Being held in wait in the caves, he had heard much about these senshi. He understood that, while the young warriors appeared the same as they had at the battle a millennium ago, they did not seem as skilled. Indeed, from reports brought back by youma scouts, they seemed almost to be learning their powers as they went along.

Jadeite was sure it came as a part of being reborn.

Who knew how much they remembered of their past; training, powers or otherwise? If he could destroy them before they came into their full powers…

'Ah well,' he shrugged, 'first I must lay my trap, then I will worry about what to do with what I catch.' His grin was purely sinister.

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"What would Okaa-san and Otou-san think if they knew that Taisetsu was shacked up with his girlfriend? And in their own home too!" Usagi ranted quietly to Luna as they hurried through the streets in the direction of Juu-ban Shougakkou.

"I don't know, Usagi-chan," replied Luna from her position on her charge's shoulder. "But they will never know, will they?"

Usagi narrowed her eyes, "No," she conceded. "Besides, Hana-san is moving back to Nagoya once the new school year begins." 'But can I take living with her until then?'

"Usagi! Stop!" Screamed Luna. Usagi's eyes widened and she stopped in place; she had had enough training from Luna to know to obey immediately without question. She swung her head around just in time to see a huge truck whiz by not a foot before her. As it was, she still felt the vacuum its speed created pulling on her, making her nervous. Breathing a sigh of relief as it passed, she turned resignedly to hear what she was sure would be a lecture from the cat hanging over her shoulder.

"Usagi-chan look."

"Yes?"

"No, Usagi-chan, look!" Luna pointed as best she could with her paw.

Usagi frowned and turned back to scan for possible causes of Luna's alarm. There were no signs of any youma, no senshi either for that matter. About to ask what had caused the distress, her eye took in a couple walking rather closer together than one would normally see in Japan. The man had his arm around the girl. In fact, her own arms were pinioned under his, against her sides. And, now that Usagi looked closer, the girl's posture was rigid, and her expression seemed anything but that of a cuddling girlfriend. Her face seemed frozen, her eyes wide and bright, darting about. This girl was looking for an escape!

"Usagi-chan, you must do something." Usagi paused, torn, her fingers lightly touching on her henshin brooch. "No, no henshin. These are civilians."

"But who's going to listen to little Usagi tell a man that size what to do?"

"Perhaps not. But he might listen to a girl if she showed supernatural strength, and was willing to use it on bullies like him."

Usagi showed a slightly predatory smile as she assessed the couple walking in her direction. "Yes. I think you may be right."

When the man steered his captive around the corner, onto a mostly empty street, Usagi made her move.

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Mamoru was headed in the direction of the Crown arcade to hang out with his friend Furuhata Motoki. He was in the mood for hot chocolate and conversation with someone who knew him best.

He was surprised when a man cut in front of him, only to dash across the street wildly. 'Now what could make a man do something so foolish on such a dangerously busy street?'

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"Mari-chan! Shouga-chan!" Usagi rushed to them with open arms, hugging them both.

Shouga groaned, squirming out of her embrace, "Don't call me Shouga-chan." Mari just giggled.

"Are you going to be back for good, now?" she asked.

"Yes. I moved the last of my stuff back yesterday."

Usagi moved to take their bags, but Shouga refused to give up his. "I can carry mine. I'm big enough."

"I'm sure you are," Usagi smiled. "Just look at how much you've grown since I've been gone." Shouga puffed up his chest at that. Mari just rolled her eyes.

"How can you tell?" she asked, "You're home every weekend." Usagi just smiled conspiratorially to her behind his back.

"So," Usagi began, as they commenced the walk home, "What was this school trip about? And why was it during summer holidays?"

"It wasn't for school," stated Shouga, as though this was an obvious fact that his sister should have known.

"But-"

"It was just organised here," explained Mari, smiling at her brother who was having trouble keeping up while carrying his bags. Shouga just stuck out his tongue at her. "Are you having trouble there, Shouga-chan?"

"Don't call me Shouga-chan!" He stated emphatically. 'I'm not a baby!'

Usagi took pity on him. She remembered when she was his age; she was so eager to grow up, unwilling to show any weakness. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather I carry your bags for you Shouga-kun?" She asked, placing emphasis on the more mature suffix.

"Ano…" he thought about it for a moment, shifting it from one arm to the other. But when his twin closed one eye and stuck out her own tongue, he made up his mind. "No. I'm fine." Placing his bag down for a moment, he crouched to hook the strap over his shoulder and stood again. "It's not too heavy for me. I told you," he scrunched up his face at Mari, "I'm big enough."

"You're no bigger than me," she rejoined.

"But I'm a boy," he stated proudly, as though this fact clearly showed his superiority.

"So?"

"Sooo! Boys are stronger."

"I read," elucidated Mari, her smirk firmly on her face, "that, until puberty, boys have the exact same muscle to mass ratio as girls." Her smirk grew to a cheeky grin. "Which means that you, are no better than me." Usagi rolled her eyes listening to the two of them. They were at it again.

Shouga had never liked how much Mari read horrid educational books, but smiled when something occurred to him. "But I am stronger."

"And how do you figure that?"

"Because I'm carrying my own bags, and you can't," said Shouga in a sing-song voice.

Mari just frowned at the reminder that she was letting her sister do her work for her, even if she was bigger. "Yeah, well-"

"It's alright Mari-chan," interrupted Usagi, placing a hand on Mari's shoulder, both to comfort her and to hold her back. "Shouga-chan," she addressed their brother, "I like to carry your bags. It makes me feel useful."

Shouga frowned a little, feeling awkward. "Okay." He really didn't know what to say to that.

Mari decided that a change of subject was in order.

"Usagi-kaasan?"

Now Usagi groaned. "Don't call me Okaa-san!"

"But mom and dad-"

"I know they left me in charge of you, but mom and dad haven't been gone long enough for you to call me Okaa-san."

"But it's funny!" Mari burst out in glee.

"How is it funny?" Usagi asked passionately.

"Because it makes you look like that." And she pointed at Usagi's face.

Usagi froze, turning to look into the mirrored glass decorating the barber shop they were passing. 'Oh dear,' she thought, 'I look just like mom did when she'd try to stop Taisetsu and I from fighting.' Her cheeks were a little flushed and her mouth a tight line of vexation, the tendons in her neck stood out as she clenched her teeth. But what she really noticed was her eyes. They were open wide, seeming to pop out in their exasperation. And her eyebrows; on either side the ends were lowered but in the middle they were raised high, and yet, she still seemed to be frowning.

Usagi turned to look back at her siblings, saw their faces, and then broke out laughing. The other two were quick to join in. Taisetsu and Kiseki were right; she had inherited far too many mannerisms from their mother.

The three of them walked the rest of the way home in companionable teasing and laughter. It had been far too long since she had enjoyed any quality time with the babies, thought Usagi.

"So," she asked again, "what was this non-school trip about?"…

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A.N.:This chapter didn't exactly go where I had planned it. But then, sometimes it just goes where it wants to go. A musician and songwriter I recently met downtown told me, "you can't force it. Either it comes, or it doesn't." If you try to make it something it is not, it will either be crap, or it will stifle the work altogether. Trying to write when I'm not in the mood is the same as forcing it.

But there are some times there are so many ideas in my head that I just can't get them all out before I lose them. I have pages and pages of notes on a dozen different stories to be written, when the mood strikes. However, I think it's only fair to you if I focus on this one for the moment.

I used to say that I would only post a story once I was finished it, so that you wouldn't be left hanging. But you know what? It is really your reviews which, few as they might be, encourage me to write. You have no idea the elation I feel when I get a response, even just a sentence or two. It makes me smile, it makes me giggle with joy, and it makes me want to do a happy dance. (which I could really use right now)

Anyway, I just want to say thank you for reading this. And thank you to all who review, you make me so happy! (I'd put a smiley face here, but the FFN server doesn't seem to like symbols like circumflex or asterisk)

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Marigold: I've been looking at the reviews that you've given my sister, and I realised something: while many had a total fit that our dad gave her a guilt trip when he lectured her, no one seems to have had any problem that she had an arranged marriage! (or maybe no one noticed that -grin- -wink-)