The past has come full circle. Love will find you soon.

Hino Rei scowled at the little slip of paper that had been secreted away in her cookie. "Aren't these supposed to say things like I'll change the oil in my car every five thousand miles or something?"

It was the night of the weekly Saturday meeting of the Inner Senshi, which was always an event not to be missed since Makoto always catered. Tonight they'd supped on a delicious dinner of Chinese walnut shrimp, garlic eggplant, braised tofu, fresh crisp green beans with almonds, hot and sour soup, and, of course, rice. Now they were clustered around her low table, relishing the warmth of the kotatsu heater while they drank their tea and munched on the cookies she'd provided. They weren't really Chinese, she'd told them, but a fun little invention from America.

"You don't even have a car, Rei-chan. But If you don't want your fortune, I'll have it," Minako said with a smile. "A little love sounds good to me."

"You can have it," sniffed the priestess, nibbling her cookie experimentally.

Minako merely grinned. "Well before I decide, I'll open mine. Then I can take the better one." She cracked open the fortune cookie and plucked out the little strip of paper, scanning it and frowning.

"Well?" Makoto inquired, pouring herself another cup of tea.

"Can I have another one, Mako-chan? Please? Mine said the same thing as Rei-chan's."

"But I thought you said that sounded good to you," Rei reminded Minako, slyly. Her purple-violet eyes were full now of good humor.

"Well that was before. I want my OWN fortune." Without waiting for Makoto to agree, the blonde grabbed another cookie.

Ami grinned, lifting her cookie. "Hope mine says I've aced that half-term anatomy exam. It was tough."

"Ami-chan," Minako laughed, shaking her head. "Only you would waste a perfectly good fortune on something like that. Let's do ours together on three. One…two…three!"

Smiling good naturedly, the petite bluenette ignored her friend's gentle ribbing and snapped into her sweet. "Oh my."

Her slightly bemused expression after reading the fortune made the others curious. Minako snagged the paper, reading it, and held up her second fortune. It was the same as Ami's and all those that had gone before.

Glancing at Makoto she seemed heartily amused. "I think your fortune cookies are stuck in a groove Mako-chan."

That drew a frown from the taller girl, who was now tugging agitatedly on the tip of her ponytail. "Well for heaven's sake…how weird. I know I asked for a bag that was marked Assorted. They must've given me the wrong bag. I was at this funky little tea shop downtown and the proprietor didn't really speak much Japanese.

She sighed. "I'm disappointed, girls. I thought this would be more fun. What's fun about having all the same fortune?"

"Well open yours anyhow," Rei told her, munching on her sweet. "Fortunes or no, they taste good anyway. They've even got a hint of cinnamon. With the tea it's fabulous."

"Alright," Makoto murmured, though a hint of displeasure was still evident on her face. As she expected, her fortune matched the others word for word.

"Maybe it means you'll be getting back with sempai," Minako teased, a cheeky grin on her face.

"Oh please," Makoto snapped. "I am so over him, Goldilocks."

"If I could," she grumbled heatedly, "I'd take the rest back and get my money returned. But not long after I bought those I tried to go back and buy some more of their Lap Seng tea…it was some of the best I'd ever had…and the place was gone. Must've been one of those here today, gone tomorrow, flashes in the pan."

"Don't worry about it," Ami reassured her, patting her disgruntled friend on the arm. "The dinner was fabulous."

"Amen," Minako agreed, flopping onto her back and patting her full belly contentedly. "If these meetings were any more often, my agent would drop me and I'd have to be rolled around.

Rei leaned around the end of the table and poked her friend in the stomach, making Minako squeal and curl up like a pillbug. "Well, Ami always said you should be a more well-rounded individual," she said, winking outrageously at the blonde, who vowed her vengeance as Makoto and Ami laughed, the former's good mood beginning to be restored.

The chiming of the doorbell had Makoto scrambling to her feet. "That must be Usagi-chan. It's a good thing I kept back a plate for her, otherwise she'd have starved, coming late." Makoto opened the door as she concluded, "You guys ate everything."

The young women waited for it.

Usagi's plaintive wail did not disappoint. "You didn't save any for me?! You knew I would be late because this was the only time Mamo-chan and mama and I could get together to go see the florist about the bouquets."

Rei and Minako laughed out loud and even Ami had a rather teasing smile hovering around her lips.

"Usagi-chan," Makoto piped up, her evergreen eyes twinkling with merriment, "would I ever do you wrong? I knew you'd be late because of the wedding planning. I've got a plate for you keeping warm in the oven. It'll just take me a minute to get it. You sit and have some tea. You can even have a cookie or four with the others. I've got plenty."

Always ready and willing to start a meal with dessert, Usagi grinned. "Sounds good."

As Makoto disappeared into her tiny kitchen, the future queen pulled up a heavy cushion and plunked herself down by the heater. Ami was pouring her a warm cup of tea.

"Oooh…that's nice. It's cold out."

The pigtailed blond snagged the nearest cookie and bit into it directly.

"USAGI," Rei protested. "Be careful. You'll eat your fortune if you're not careful. And while I know you eat most anything, I didn't think paper was high on your list of favorite foods."

"Fortune?" Usagi mumbled indistinctly around a mouthful of cookie. Rei sighed wearily, dropping her head to the tabletop and banging her head lightly but repeatedly against it, rattling china.

Luckily, Usagi had not managed to consume her fortune as it was wedged tightly in the far end of the treat. Eagerly she unrolled the tiny, now slightly damp, scroll and read its contents aloud, struggling once with an unfamiliar kana.

You shall wed true love soon. Bridesmaids hate fuchsia taffeta.

Each of the inner planetary senshi, including Makoto, who had just stepped back into the room with Usagi's steaming plate in hand, blinked owlishly and felt an eerie, unfamiliar shiver run up their spines. They didn't have much of a chance to think about it, though, as Usagi scowled at them, her cerulean blue eyes filling with hot tears.

"What?! You all hate my bridesmaid dress choice? You're so meeeean!"

As four flustered young women hastened to assure their princess that of course fuchsia taffeta or pumpkin lace or teal satin or just anything at all would be fine…nay perfect, three men of varying shades of blond, from golden to strawberry to outright platinum were walking into a cramped, hole-in-the-wall of a tea shop that had recently opened near their apartment.

The wizened old Chinese proprietor, in traditional robes embroidered heavily with strange and arcane symbols, smiled at the men…or at least his wrinkles split enough that was how it appeared.

"Come in," he said in heavily accented Japanese. "Welcome to Lucky Fortune. Please try signature cookie." The grin on the old man's face widened as he proffered a tray filled to overflowing. "Make wish, then open with friends. Find heart's desire."

The three men looked bemused, but shrugged and accepted the small, pre-wrapped treats, stuffing them in the pockets of their overcoats as they browsed the odd little store, which seemed to carry a bit of everything, and picked up the items they'd been looking for, including a funny portable hand-warmer for Nephrite, who had camped out next to a diner and was refusing to budge. On their leaving, though, the old man pressed another fortune cookie into Kunzite's hand.

He had to protest. "Thank you sir, but I don't care for sweets all that much."

The mysterious old man grinned broadly and winked as he shoved them out the door, locking it behind them. Each man however looked thoroughly startled when, just an instant before the window blinds dropped into place, the prune-faced gent called loudly to Kunzite through the glass. "Not for you, young man, but for good friend who waits."