A/N Okay, here we go. Chapter 3 has arrived. I don't really have a lot to say this time. But I have a nice long chapter for you here. It was 27 pages on Word before hugs and AN's, so I hope you all enjoy it. Lot's of stuff happening in this one. Okay, moving on. Time for my huggles! BIG HUGS TO:
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Thanks bunches you guys! You are all so awesome! Okay, time to get down to business. Oh yeah, just a side note here. Emma, Alex's girlfriend, transforms in this chapter and I'm calling her Sailor Ishtar after the Babylonian goddess of love and beauty. I figured I couldn't call her Venus because that's her mom, and Diana and Aphrodite are already taken. Besides, I've always liked that name and have wanted an opportunity to use it. Okay, nuff said!
ENJOY!
The Galactic Trinity
Chapter 3
Fire and Ice
"That's it! I can't take any more out of her!"
DJ's head snapped up at the sound of Alex's voice as his friend threw himself down in the seat across from him. His eyes widened as he took in the other boy's appearance.
"Dude! What the hell happened to you? You look like shit!…Ouch!" DJ rubbed the back of his head and turned to glare at the person who had just smacked him.
"I don't want to hear that kind of language out of you," Lizzy scolded him with a glare of her own. "What would your mother say if she heard that?"
After the awakening of the Earth in the thirtieth century and the building of Crystal Tokyo began, Serenity had insisted on restoring as much of the former city as possible. Several structures had managed to survive the freeze, and the Crown Arcade had been one of them, much to everyone's delight.
Since Andrew now worked for Endymion, he had turned the place over to his sister to run. But when the royal family came to visit, he would roll up his sleeves and resume his former place behind the counter to serve the queen her favorite chocolate shake and supply the king with endless amounts of coffee.
Over the years, the tradition had been passed on to the younger generation, and the arcade had become the favorite hangout for the children of the original patrons.
"Sorry," DJ grumbled to Alex's red haired aunt. "I was just calling it like I see it. You've got to admit, he looks rough."
The anger in Lizzy's hazel eyes faded as she took a good look at her nephew. "Good grief, Alex, what have you been doing? You look dead on your feet."
He forced out a cheerful laugh. "Nothing much. I've just had a hard day. Can I get a chocolate peanut butter shake Aunt Liz?"
"Sure," she replied before walking away, muttering under her breath about teenagers and their issues and how it was surprising that her brother hadn't fallen dead from a heart attack yet.
DJ waited until he was sure Lizzy was out of hearing range before leaning toward his friend and whispering, "So what has she done now?"
Alex didn't have to ask who he meant, they both knew who was responsible for him looking like he had fallen down a flight of stairs before being tossed in front of a speeding truck.
He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "The computer for the holograph chamber is screwing up again, so she said she needed a sparring partner."
DJ let out a low whistle. "And you volunteered? You're crazier than I thought."
A few months had passed since Katie's kidnapping and murder attempt, and the blonde girl had thrown herself into a rigorous training schedule. Where once she used to complain about the time she had to spend learning fighting techniques, she now spent every available moment she had pushing herself to her limits and sometimes beyond.
In all fairness, it was paying off. She had always been a talented fighter with flawless ability and skill, but now she fought like a veteran with years of experience. Of course if things kept going the way they were, they would all be veterans in no time.
Discord hadn't shown himself since that night on the bridge, but he kept reminding them that he was around. A few times a week he would turn some of his goons loose on the city, sending people screaming and scrambling for cover.
The city's protectors were kept busy with the attacks. So much so that they had stopped protesting about letting any of their children fight. The oldest ones had been given permission to join the battle, as long as they promised to be extremely careful and not to get in over their heads.
Alex cracked open one ocean blue eye to look at his friend. "Yeah, maybe I am crazy. I'm still not sure how she talked me into it. And something really had her panties in a bunch today. I think she and that boyfriend," he sneered at that word, "had a another fight or something."
Anger sparked in the raven-haired prince's light blue eyes. After saving Katie from her near drowning, he had walked around for days trying to find the nerve and the right opportunity to talk to her and tell her how he felt about her. However, she had dealt him a major blow when she had began openly dating Jack
It sickened him to see the two of them together, but he had some small consolations that made it a little more bearable. The fact that her new icy demeanor never thawed, even when she was with Jack, and the knowledge that Andrew and Jess didn't approve of the relationship made him feel some better.
Of course he had reacted badly in the beginning, and had managed to get himself into a hell of a mess in the process. Driven by hurt and anger, he had stopped refusing Sasha's invites and began seeing the strawberry blonde on a regular basis. Now he felt stuck. He wanted to break up with the girl, but he didn't want to hurt her. It wasn't her fault that he didn't return her feelings.
He pulled away from his thoughts and smirked at Alex. "So she put you through the wringer, huh?"
The brunette boy snorted. "No! I met her blow for blow. She's good, I admit, but she's not better. I would call her an equal. It's just that her power surges keep catching me off guard."
DJ winced in sympathy. He had been on the receiving end of what they had termed 'Katie's flare ups' a few times himself, and it was never pretty.
Her crystal's power had begun manifesting itself since the night of the showdown with Discord, and she had developed several new attacks that she could use in both her civilian and scout forms, but she had a hard time controlling it whenever she was upset or pissed, which she seemed to be most of the time nowadays.
Lizzy came back and delivered Alex's shake, and after fussing over her nephew for a few minutes and ranting about her niece and her homicidal tendencies, she left the two boys alone again.
"Enough about my crazy sister," Alex declared as he slurped the milkshake. "It's Saturday. Let's go do something tonight. We haven't been out in weeks."
DJ grinned. "Now you're speaking my language.
"Can I kill him? Please tell me that I can," Jess muttered under her breath as she looked out the window at the three motorcycles that were roaring down the long driveway of the palace.
"Only if I can strangle that other little bitch," Serenity growled from beside her. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the strawberry blonde girl that was perched on the back of the shiny black bike with her arms wrapped tightly around the waist of her only son.
Jess's face held a look of disgust that mirrored the queen's as she watched the long blonde hair of her daughter flying behind the girl from where she was sitting behind a boy with a black ponytail on a similar black motorcycle.
The only one not on the receiving end of their glares was a sleek red machine that held a brown haired boy and a giggling blonde girl. No one had a problem with Alex and Emma dating, well, except Kunzite, but he was getting over it with some…persuasion… from Mina. But allowing DJ and Katie to spend time with the ones that they knew were backstabbing betrayers was hard.
"What I wouldn't give to have five minutes alone in a locked room with that little shit!" Jess snapped, her eyes blazing. "Hell, I don't even need five. I'd have him pissing his pants inside of thirty seconds."
"Careful, my love, you're showing your bad side again," Andrew said as he walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist as he rested his chin on her shoulder.
She snorted sarcastically. "Oh I'm sorry. Maybe I should invite him in for tea and polite conversation before I kick his ass."
Andrew just sighed and rolled his eyes, but wisely kept his mouth shut. His wife's temper was legendary, and he had learned over the years when it was best to just stay silent.
"Pluto be damned, I'm with you," Serenity ground out between clenched teeth. "Screw the timeline! I just want this nightmare to be over."
Endymion wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to his side, whispering soothingly into her ear, "Shh darling. It will all work out. And you really don't want to get on Trista's bad side, do you?"
She blew out an irritated breath and leaned against him. "No. I don't want to cross her. But this still sucks."
The music pounded through the darkened club as multi colored laser lights briefly highlighted the close packed bodies of the dancers that filled the floor. It was a popular nightspot for people of all ages, but it mostly catered to a younger clientele. The teenagers of Crystal Tokyo flocked to it in droves because you only had to be sixteen to enter. The fact that the bartenders never checked ID's was an added bonus.
DJ sat at one of the tables near the dance floor, sipping his beer as he looked out over the sea of dancers. Since it was Saturday night, the club was filled to overflowing.
"Come on, DJ, let's dance," Sasha whined from her seat at his side.
DJ tipped his bottle back and took a long pull from it. "I said I didn't want to, Sasha. I'm just not in the mood. If you want to dance that bad, go find somebody else. I'm sure in this crowd you can find somebody that would be willing to dance with you."
The girl fell silent, leaving him free to return to his perusal of the crowd. Alex and Emma were nearby, their bodies pressed close together as they moved in perfect synchronization to the beat of the blaring music. They looked to be perfectly content and lost in their own little world.
DJ growled to himself as he saw Alex lean down to whisper something into the golden blonde goddess's ear that made her smile before he buried his face in her neck. He didn't hold it against his friend that he had a great relationship with Emma, it was just hard to watch them be so happy together when he was in constant torment.
He scanned the crowd, but saw no sight of the one he was looking for. Katie and Jack had disappeared in the direction of the bar about a half hour before and hadn't been seen since. There was no telling what they were off doing.
A smirk passed his features as he hoped that they were fighting again. The two of them seemed to be at each other's throats at least once a day since they had started dating, and it was amusing to watch. Jack was at a loss as to how to deal with the temperamental blonde, and she usually made quick work of him with her biting words and sarcastic wit.
You would think that the fool would realize that their personalities were far from compatible and head for the hills, but the idiot kept crawling back for more. It was like he was blind to the fact that they had nothing in common.
They didn't even have the shared love of music anymore. Katie had stopped indulging in her favorite pastime since her ordeal at the hands of Discord. She was never seen scribbling away in her old notebook like she used to and hadn't been near a piano in months. All the time that she once devoted to her music was now directed into her fighting.
Sasha huffed next to DJ and shifted in her seat, drawing his eyes back to the pouting girl. He turned his head to find her glaring at him.
"What?" he snapped, becoming seriously agitated.
Her face turned red with suppressed fury. "You are such an ass! Why did you even bother inviting me to go out dancing tonight if all you're going to do is sit here and sulk? I have better things I could be doing with my time."
Maybe it was the beer talking. Maybe it was the fact that he couldn't stand being in this situation anymore. His temper snapped. "Well if you have so many important things waiting for your attention, then why don't you go do it then? Nobody's stopping you from leaving."
She jumped up from her chair and grabbed her jacket from the back. "Fine! I will! I hope you enjoy the rest of your miserable night."
A wave of guilt hit him. "Sasha…"
She held up a silencing hand. "Save it, DJ! I know when I'm not wanted. I knew that you have been using me all of this time, but I was willing to take what I could get. But I hope you realize that she'll never return your feelings."
His expression went cold. "What did you say?"
She barked out a harsh laugh. "Get real, DJ! You follow along behind her panting like she's a bitch in heat, but she'll never see it. Katie's too screwed up in the head to take notice of anything around her. If I were one of her parents I would have had her locked up months ago. That bitch is crazy!"
DJ saw red at her words. "I think you've said enough. You're right, I think you should leave. You are nothing but a bitter, selfish person, and I can't believe I ever thought there might be something more to you."
Jade eyes glittered dangerously. "And the mighty prince has spoken." She shoved her arms into her jacket. "Have a great life, your highness." Then she stomped away.
There was a lull in the music as Alex and Emma stumbled over to the table. Both of them were flushed and laughing as Alex flopped down into a chair and pulled Emma onto his lap.
"What's up?" Alex asked with a grin as he looked around the empty table. "Where did Sasha get off to in such a hurry?"
"She left," DJ said shortly, taking a large gulp of his beer. "She got pissed and started acting like a bitch, so I told her to go."
Alex almost choked on his beer. "Did you guys break up?"
DJ thought about it for a moment. "Yeah. I guess we did."
"Oh DJ, I'm so sorry!" Emma exclaimed with sympathy in her china blue eyes.
A goofy grin appeared on his face. "Don't be. I'm not. I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get some air."
He pushed his chair away from the table and got up, walking away toward the door that led to an outdoor patio where the patrons of the club could escape for a few minutes to get away from the stifling heat generated from the crowded building.
Emma smirked as she looked at her boyfriend. "So he finally got rid of her. Good riddance. Do you think he'll make a play for your sister now?"
Alex shook his head. "If he's smart he would. But I don't know, the two of them are so bull headed."
Emma wrapped her arms around his neck. "They'll figure it out someday. You can't fight fate, and they are fated to be together."
Alex groaned. "You sound just like your mom when you talk like that."
Her smile widened. "What can I say, I'm the next goddess of love, baby."
Alex growled low in his throat and pulled her close. "I won't deny that." Then he kissed her deeply.
"You are so beautiful," the deep voice growled into Katie's ear.
She sighed and leaned back against the wall behind her, tilting her head back as she felt the lips that had just been near her ear begin to nibble a path down her neck. Her eyes darted to the side to see the black hair of the boy that currently had her pinned to the wall in a dark corner of the club.
She couldn't see his face. That, combined with the two rumrunners that she had drank, allowed her imagination to run wild. In her mind, the head full of dark hair belonged to someone else.
She sank her fingers into the inky black strands and a low moan escaped her as his lips made their way to hers and claimed them in a rough, demanding kiss. It wasn't the type of kiss she wanted, so she retreated to the part of her mind that made her believe that it was tender and loving.
In her mind, she wasn't in a loud, crowded club, and she wasn't with the boy whose arms she was currently wrapped in. Instead she was standing on top of one of the tall buildings of the city, under the light of the full moon, as a dark, mysterious hero wrapped her in his cape and whispered words of love softly to her.
'DJ,' she thought wildly, unconsciously returning the kiss with an intenseness that shocked her date for a moment.
Jack indulged in her answering passion for a moment before pulling back slightly to look at her flushed cheeks and slightly swollen lips. "Let's get out of here and go someplace more private," he rasped harshly.
Katie came crashing back down from her high as she opened her eyes to be confronted by soft brown eyes instead of the beautiful blue ones that she had pictured in her mind. She felt horrified when she realized what she had been doing.
"I'm sorry, Jack. But I've already told you, I'm not that type of girl," she said as gently as she could.
His already flushed face turned even redder and his eyes began to simmer with anger. "I bet if your precious little DJ asked you to go off with him, you would."
Her new icy expression fell into place. "Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
His hands tightened around her upper arms. "Don't play the dumb blonde routine with me. I've seen the way you watch him when he's not looking. You have a crush on him, don't you?"
Katie shoved him hard so that he stumbled back several steps. "You're full of shit! You don't know anything about me or my feelings. You never bothered to learn. I should have kicked you to the curb weeks ago."
Jacks hands tightened into fists at his sides and he took a menacing step toward her. "Are you breaking up with me?"
Katie pointed a finger at him and he paused when a few silver sparks shot from her fingertip. "Now you're getting the picture. And don't try being all macho and overbearing. Trust me, you don't want to tangle with me."
Jack's eyes widened. "You're crazier than hell. I wouldn't want to stay with a psycho bitch like you anyway. Good luck finding someone that would be willing to put up with you. I'm outta here!"
He turned and stomped away, leaving Katie feeling relieved and lighthearted for the first time in weeks. She just now realized how much she actually hated having Jack around so much.
Deciding that she'd had enough partying for one night, she went in search of her brother to tell him that she was leaving. She knew that he would insist on driving her home, but she wanted to walk. It would give her a chance to clear her head and think.
She returned to their table only to find it vacant. But the sight of Alex's brown leather jacket slung over the back of a chair told her that he still had to be there somewhere. She scanned the crowded dance floor, but saw no sign of her brother or his blonde date.
She looked toward the door that led to the back patio and saw that it was slightly open. Thinking Alex and Emma might have stepped outside for a moment, she headed that way.
She walked out into the cold winter night and shivered as she pulled the collar of her black suede jacket up around her neck. She crossed the patio and looked around, finding it surprisingly empty. She stopped and gazed up at the full moon for a moment, basking in its comforting glow with a small smile on her face for a minute, before turning to head back inside.
"Looking for someone?" a voice asked from the shadows near the wall.
She spun around, her hand automatically going to the pendant around her neck, ready to transform at a moment's notice if whoever this person was turned out to be a threat.
DJ stepped into view. "Chill out, Tinkerbell. It's just me."
Her posture relaxed a little, but she still remained tense. "What were you doing hiding in the dark? Were you spying on me?"
Her angry words sparked his own temper and he snapped back. "Hey! I was out here first. Maybe it was you following me."
"Ha!" she barked out. "As if! You have enough girls to fuel your massive ego, and I'm proud to say I'm not one of them. I'm surprised that your little girlfriend's not out here to play watchdog and make sure nobody makes a move on you. Isn't that what she usually does?"
She expected him to fire back with an equally nasty comment, so she was surprised when he grinned broadly at her.
"Not anymore," he said happily. "As of now I have no more clingy female latched on to me. I am a free agent."
"O..oh," Katie stammered. "Did you guys break up?"
His smile grew even wider. "Yep! I finally had enough of her nagging and bitching, so I told her to move on."
"Huh," she muttered. "I guess that makes two of us."
Blue eyes snapped to hers. "What do you mean?"
She waved a dismissive hand. "Oh nothing. Jack was acting like an ass, so I told him to hit the road. It was good for me. He's not really my type anyway."
DJ studied her for a moment before working up the nerve to ask. "What is your type of guy?"
She looked taken aback. "Well…I guess I never really thought about it," she lied. "I really don't have time for a relationship anyway with the schedule I keep. Between my training and my studies, I have very little free time."
He took a step toward her. "You could cut back on your training. You really push yourself too hard. Everybody needs a life, but it seems like you have totally given up on yours. You should have time for friends and fun, like you used to. You used to be happy, but now you've changed. You're not the same anymore."
Her look hardened into the mask he had become so familiar with. "You wouldn't understand, DJ. Nobody would understand. I have to do this; I have to become a better fighter. I'm not the same person I used to be, but it's for the best. I have to get stronger and become the best that I can be."
He took another step toward her. "No one expects you to be perfect, Kat. None of us are. Nobody expects you to be anything but yourself."
She shook her head. "I told you that you wouldn't understand. I have to do this for me. I made a promise to myself that I would never leave myself open and vulnerable ever again. I control my life, and nobody else."
He heard the underlying pain beneath her harsh tone, and his heart cracked a little for her. His poor little fairy tried to hide all of her pain under a façade of anger and bitterness, but it was there, bubbling right under the surface.
He was close enough to touch her, and he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. "I hate that you had to go through what you did. I hate that it changed you so much. I never thought I'd admit it in a million years, but I miss my verbal sparring partner. It's not the same without you."
She stepped away from him; her eyes shining with unshed tears. "That weak girl doesn't exist anymore."
He followed her steps until they were standing so close together that they were almost touching. He tipped her chin up with one hand to meet his eyes while he slid the other hand into his pocket to grasp the bracelet that went everywhere with him. Maybe the time had finally come to return it to her. He stared down into her luminous eyes and saw her gulp. Her breathing was becoming uneven.
"You're wrong," he whispered. "I think she's still here. She just needs to be set free from the prison she's been locked up in. She deserves the chance to live again."
Katie swallowed convulsively as she saw his face inching slowly closer to hers. She tried to control her pounding heart. In just a few more seconds, his lips would be touching hers.
'You can't do this! It's wrong!' her mind screamed at her. 'You can't drag him into your screwed up life! It will never work out and you know it.'
But the old her that was trapped inside was begging for his kiss. Just one more chance to feel his lips against hers. She had dreamed about it for so long. She knew she should stop him, but she couldn't.
"I've waited a long time for this," DJ growled as he suddenly claimed her lips with his.
The spark between them ignited, and the kiss went from sweetly chaste to a full-blown battle in a matter of seconds. Both of their lips parted and their tongues began a fierce duel, each one fighting for dominance over the other.
Then the earth shook beneath their feet, literally, followed by a loud boom. The sadly familiar cry of "MONSTERS!" filled the air. They broke apart, both flushed and breathing heavily as they stared at each other.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!' Katie cursed herself for her moment of weakness. She should have never let him kiss her, much less kiss him back. What the hell had she been thinking?
Even though it was killing her inside, she fixed a look of anger and disgust on her face. "Don't you ever do that again!"
He looked dumbfounded for a moment before a similar looked of anger appeared on his face. Good, she could deal with his anger, but not with the other feelings he stirred up inside of her.
"What the hell!" he exploded. "I didn't hear you complaining at the time. You kissed me back!"
Heartsick, she smirked at him. "Maybe I just wanted to see what all of the hype was about. I will admit, you're good, but I've had better."
Burning fury coursed through him. "You really are something else! I guess I was wrong. There's nothing left of the old Katie inside of you. Daddy's little fairy princess grew up to be a frigid bitch."
A coldness descended on her at his words as she glared at him. "And don't you forget it. You're fire and I'm ice, two things that should never be close together. You have your life to live, and I have mine."
The door behind them flew open as Alex and Emma burst through.
"Do you guys hear that?" Alex asked, not noticing the tension between the two.
DJ and Katie jerked their attention away from each other and heard the screams that were echoing down the streets. It seemed that their night was far from over.
"Shit!" Katie spat. "I guess we better go take care of business." She grasped her necklace tightly. "Eclipse Power!" There was a burst of silver sparks and ribbons, and few seconds later Sailor Eclipse stood in her place. She took off immediately toward the disturbance.
There were more bursts of energy as the others transformed, and soon Phantom, Phoenix, and Sailor Ishtar were hurrying after her.
Neo Queen Serenity entered the glassed in conservatory located at the top of the Crystal palace. Her sky blue eyes had a worried look to them as she glanced around quickly. A look of relief crossed her face as she spotted the person she had spent the last several minutes looking for.
Stepping up next to the other woman, she looked out at the dark clouds that hovered on the horizon. Thunder rumbled softly in the distance and there were a few flashes of lightning.
"You're not doing that, are you?" she asked, turning to look at her companion. "It's not like you to let things overwhelm you anymore."
Jess sighed, pushing a stray strand of dark blonde hair behind her ear. "I may have influenced it a little bit, but the storm was already brewing. It just seemed to suit my mood. Are the kids still sleeping?"
Serenity nodded. "Yeah, they were completely worn out from the fight. I'm just glad that none of them were seriously hurt, just a few bumps and bruises. Darien healed those up good as new in about five seconds. They just need to rest."
"I can't believe this is finally happening," Jess whispered. "This is the day that I've been dreading since the day I found out I was pregnant. I had hoped that something would change and we wouldn't have to do this. How can we send our children into certain danger? Alex and DJ are strong enough to probably handle it, but Katie…she's so fragile right now. How can I do that to my baby?"
Serenity looked solemn. "I know. It's hard. If I could, I would keep DJ locked up right here at home. But they have their destinies to claim just like we did. As much as I hate to admit it, they're not little children anymore. They are standing at the verge of adulthood, and we have to let them go."
Jess heaved a sigh. "I know, but it doesn't make this any easier." Her voice was thick and her eyes were shiny with tears. "Excuse me, but I need to be alone for a while."
Serenity stared after her friend as she walked away with profound sadness in her eyes. Sometimes it was easy to forget that the soul of her past daughter resided inside the strong, independent woman, but when Jess had moments of vulnerability like this, it was easy to remember the little princess she had been during the Silver Millennium.
She stared out at the cloud-darkened sky; lost in her thoughts as she remembered the blind panic she had felt when she and the others had arrived at the scene of the fight earlier in the evening. The sight of DJ, Katie, Alex, and Emma backed into a dead end alley with nowhere to go and surrounded by an army of guardians and sentinels was an image that would be burned into her brain for the rest of her existence.
She jumped a little as a pair of arms wrapped around her and pulled her back against a firm warmth.
"You shouldn't be torturing yourself like this, love," Endymion breathed into her ear. "All you're going to do is get yourself all worked up."
She turned in his arms and snaked her arms around his waist as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. "I know, Darien, but I can't help it. If we had only been a few minutes later…" she broke off on a sob.
Endymion held her close and stroked her back gently. "Shh, it's okay," he comforted her as he struggled to keep the mental images of his son's bruised and battered features and those of the others out of his head. "We got there in time. They're okay."
"But they almost weren't!" she protested, her voice beginning to rise hysterically. "We could have lost our son and the others tonight, Darien. And we already know what challenges they will face soon. This shouldn't be their fight. How could the gods be so cruel to put this burden on them? It's not fair!"
Endymion held his wife and let her cry out her frustrations. It wasn't often that she had emotional moments like these anymore. When they were younger, he had found himself in this position with her on numerous occasions, but over the years she had schooled herself into being the strong, graceful queen she had become. But everyone had their moments, and even royalty were allowed to break down sometimes.
He kissed the top of her head. "Shh, Serena. Baby, please calm down," he said in a soothing tone, reverting back to his old habits of the past. Right now he wasn't King Endymion of Crystal Tokyo, he was simply Darien Shields, holding and comforting his wife as they both fought against the fears that they had for their children like any other parents on Earth.
She finally quieted and raised her head to look at him with puffy eyes. "Sorry," she whispered in a hoarse voice.
He wiped the tears from her face with gentle fingers. "Don't you dare apologize for crying. Heaven knows you deserve to after all the stress we've been under recently. So don't say that you're sorry for being human."
She nodded and gave him a watery half smile. "You're always my rock. Some enemy would have probably dusted me years ago if it hadn't been for you. You've saved my ass more times than I can count."
He grinned at her. "The feeling's mutual. I don't even remember how many times you had to save me because I got kidnapped, brainwashed, injured, or killed."
She shivered at the memories his words conjured up. "Okay, let's not go there right now."
He hugged her again. "Sorry. Now, why don't you head to bed? It's been a long day."
"But I was going to go check on DJ and the others," she protested.
"I'll pop in and look at them," Endymion told gently, but firmly. "You need to get some rest."
Serenity crossed her arms and pouted. "But I sleep better when you're with me."
The king chuckled as he steered his wife from the room and sent her on her way to bed with a swat to her butt. "I won't be too far behind you. Now go warm the bed up for me."
DJ woke up with a start and stared around the room, surprised to find himself in the palace infirmary.
"What the hell?" he muttered, as he looked around in confusion, not sure what he was doing in the infirmary or how he got there.
He turned his head to the right and received a shock when he saw Katie in the next bed. She was fast asleep, curled up on her side facing him with a hand tucked under her chin. He took a moment to look at her. She looked so peaceful and innocent when she was sleeping.
A movement behind her caught his eye, and he saw that it was Alex on the next bed, rolling over in his sleep. What were the three of them doing there?
His breath caught as memories began flooding his mind. He suddenly recalled being at the club, his fight with Sasha, Katie, their kiss, the harshly spoken words, and then the battle.
He, Alex, and Emma had rushed after Katie when the commotion had started and had found a guardian and a sentinel terrorizing moviegoers at a nearby theater. They had sprung into action without breaking stride and had begun launching attacks at the creatures, trying to draw them away from the crowd.
Suddenly more monsters appeared, quickly outnumbering them. A quick call on the communicator had assured them that back up was coming, so they had tried to hold them off as best as they could.
They had been doing okay until one of the guardians holding a knife had unexpectedly lunged after Sailor Eclipse and snagged her by her long blonde ponytail before hauling her up in front of him with the blade pressed to her neck.
"Hello, pretty," it had drawled to her. "Remember me? We had so much fun together last time. I'm glad to see that we have a chance to renew our acquaintance."
"You!" Eclipse had hissed as she pulled her head back in an attempt to ease the pressure on her neck where the blade had nicked the skin and a thin trail of blood was running down.
The guardian had cackled gleefully while the others gasped at the realization that this guardian was the one responsible for Katie's abduction four months before.
The man like creature surveyed them all with his eerie red eyes before turning his attention back to the girl he held. "And I see this time you brought some friends along for my companions and I to have fun with as well. Two strapping young men and another pretty doll like yourself, this should be fun."
The furious flash of silver that raced across Eclipse's eyes was all the warning anyone had. Phantom, Phoenix, and Sailor Ishtar knew what it meant and hit the ground as she released a powerful shock of energy that disintegrated the guardian immediately and then swept out to claim two sentinels as well, turning them all to dust.
Howls of fury had left the remaining enemies, and they descended on the young heroes with a vengeance, pushing them back until they had found themselves trapped in a dead end alley with no where to go. The sides of the building were too high for them to jump to without getting a running start, and they were out room.
Ishtar had been the first to fall after receiving a cut from the spike of one of the venomous sentinels. She had fought bravely for a few more minutes until the poison began to take effect and she detransformed and passed out
The other three had rallied in front of their fallen comrade, praying that help would arrive soon. Phoenix had been taken out next when he was hit with an energy bolt. He could have moved out of the way, but it would have left Emma lying open to the attack. He'd tried to erect a barrier, but he wasn't fast enough. The energy slammed into him, knocking him down next to his girlfriend where his transformation faded as well.
As Phantom and Eclipse had scrambled to try to protect their fallen friends and keep the enemy at bay, a voice had screeched out into the night, demanding that the creatures kill them. Before they knew what was happening, they had both been blasted hard into a wall.
The last thing he remembered was lying on the ground, stunned and bordering on the edge of unconsciousness as he reached for Katie, who lying a few feet away from him with her eyes closed and her body still.
A hand landed on his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. He whipped his head around to find his father standing there, watching him with concerned eyes.
"Hey Dad," he whispered, sitting up as Endymion took a seat on the edge of the bed.
"Hey yourself," Endymion whispered back with a lopsided grin. "How are you feeling?"
DJ returned the grin with an identical one. "I'm fine. But what about them?" he asked gesturing to the room's other two occupants.
"They're going to be just fine," the king reassured him. "And Emma recovered quickly once she was healed of the poison, so I sent her off with Mina and Kunzite."
"Thank goodness," DJ sighed. "I don't mind telling you, dad, things got pretty intense this time."
Endymion nodded his head. "It sure looked like it. Why don't you tell me what happened."
So DJ gave him the rundown of the fight and how it happened. He paused however when he reached the part where he and Katie had been blasted, a frown marring his face.
"What is it, son?" Endymion asked him.
DJ shook his head. "It's probably nothing, but right before that blast was shot at me and Katie, I heard a voice yell out the command. It was a woman's voice. It sounded familiar, very familiar. If I didn't know better I would almost say it sounded like…well…it almost sounded like…" he couldn't finish his statement.
"Sasha," Endymion said softly. "The voice you heard sounded like Sasha's."
Light blue eyes widened, "How did you know that's what I was thinking?"
"Let's just say that I've had my suspicions about her and leave it at that for now," Endymion answered. "What's important right now is keeping the three of you safe. Discord is getting desperate and beginning to escalate. He knows that every day that passes brings you closer to claiming the power of the Trinity, and he wants to stop you before that happens."
"So what do we do about that?" DJ asked. "I'm not going to spend all of my time locked up in here just because some asshole is gunning for me."
"And I'm not asking you to," Endymion told him. "But we have to take precautions. I know it's a lot to ask, but you, Alex, and Katie are the keys to Discord's destruction. If something were to happen to one of you, then we would have no hopes of defeating him. Sure, we could seal him away again, but he would just find some way to break out again in the future and we would find ourselves in the same position."
DJ shook his head. "If the three of us are supposed to be the ones to control this Galactic Trinity, then how come we haven't gotten this so called awesome power yet?"
Endymion's eyes clouded over, and he looked to be lost in thought. "The gods are funny like that. They do things their own way. They will wait until they think it is the right time to turn the power over to you, and not before. I'm sure that they are being doubly cautious this time considering how it backfired on them the last time."
They were both quiet for a moment as they both recalled the fragmented story of the fight that took place over two thousand years before. All of the original documentation of the battle had been lost during the destruction of the Silver Millennium, so all they had to go on were the fragments that Queen Serenity had passed on to Serenity and Jess.
Nobody knew exactly what had happened when the then moon princess and the princes of the Sun and the Earth had faced Discord, they only knew that something had gone horribly wrong, resulting in Discord only being sealed away and the three young royals near death.
Endymion shook himself from his thoughts. "We'll talk more in the morning. We have plans to make. For now get some more rest, okay?"
"Sure, dad," DJ said, lying back down as Endymion stood. "Give mom a hug from me and tell her I'll see her later."
"I will," Endymion said as he ruffled his son's unruly hair that was so like his own. Then he cast a glance over the other two sleeping teens. "Goodnight to you two as well. You're not fooling me. I know you're awake."
One pair of blue eyes and a set of hazel ones popped open as they both exclaimed together, "How did you know?"
Endymion chuckled as walked to the door. "I have my ways. Now all three of you troublemakers get some sleep. I don't want any reports from Amy or Zoicite that you sat up all night talking."
"Yes sir," they answered as he closed the door behind him and began making his way down the halls of the palace to seek his own bed and the comfort of his wife's arms.
Two weeks later
Sailor Pluto stood at her post at the gates of time, keeping watch over the timeline like she had done for centuries. She took her job seriously, even though it was sometimes a heavy burden to have the knowledge of what was going to occur before it happened.
Like now, she heard the slight scraping of footsteps and turned with a broad smile on her face to greet the ones that she knew were approaching.
"Your majesties," she greeted them with a bow.
"For the love of Selene, Trista," Neo Queen Serenity fussed. "You know that you don't have to stand on ceremony with us all the time."
A small smile twitched the time guardian's lips. "My apologies, but centuries of old habits are hard to break."
Four people appeared through the mists of the time plane and joined her, the king and queen, and two of their closest friends.
"So how are things progressing?" Endymion asked.
"As they should," she answered as she waved her time staff to bring up mirrors that showed different places and times.
"Rini is currently enjoying herself in the past with your past selves," she said, pointing to one mirror that showed the pink haired princess as she roamed the Juuban mall with Hotaru at her side. "And the other three, well, let's just say that they are climbing the walls right now,"
The other three mirrors showed Elysian. DJ was standing by a pond, lethargically skipping rocks across the surface with a look of boredom on his face. Alex was flung on a couch in one of the sitting rooms, his computer forgotten on the floor at his side as he stared lifelessly up at the ceiling. And Katie sat in the middle of the training room floor, occasionally flicking an energy burst at one of the dummies with a look of disgust.
"Oh, they all look so miserable," Jess said in sympathy. "They must be going crazy being trapped there. It's only been two weeks for us, but it's been almost two months for them. I'm surprised they haven't killed each other yet."
Pluto smirked. "There have been some close calls. I've had few complaints from Helios, wondering when I was going to get them out of there. It seems he doesn't have the temperament to handle three headstrong teenagers."
"Ha! Serves him right," Endymion muttered under his breath, earning him an elbow in the ribs from his wife.
"Knock it off, Darien," Serenity hissed. "You're going to have to get over the fact that he's our daughter's boyfriend at some point. Anyway, I thought he was one of your closest friends."
"He is," Endymion grouched, rubbing his side. "It's nothing personal against him. I would feel the same way about any guy Rini was with."
Serenity stomped her foot. "That is such a double standard! I've noticed that you don't have a problem with watching DJ while he's trying to get to Katie."
Andrew growled low in his throat, making the queen snap around to look at him. He held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, gut reaction. This is my only daughter we're talking about."
Serenity pointed a finger at the blonde man. "You're just as bad as he is," she snapped. "You keep encouraging Alex to pursue Emma, even though Kunzite is about ready to turn him into mince meat, but the moment Katie's mentioned you go on the defensive."
Jess let out a whoop and high fived the queen. "You tell them, Sere! They need something to knock their chauvinism down a peg or two."
Pluto broke into the conversation. "As much as I would love to continue this discussion about teenage drama, please remember that we are pressed for time."
The four visitors fell silent with sheepish looks on their faces as they realized the scout of time was right.
"Now," Pluto continued. "Later today Discord will discover the secret entrance to the time plane on the outskirts of the city and come in to "ambush" me," she said with a roll of her eyes.
After all, how could somebody that could see the future be ambushed? If Discord weren't so powerful, he would actually be quite pathetic. He thought out elaborate schemes, but they always seemed to fall through because they were riddled with flaws.
"Anyhow," she carried on. "He will discover the entrance to Elysian located here and go after the kids. I will pop in and get them out and deliver them safely to the past and put them under the watchful eyes of your past selves."
Snickers were heard from the adults as they all remembered the impact that meeting their future children had on their lives. Things were about to get very interesting in Tokyo of the past. Then they all sobered.
"I trust you, Trista," Serenity whispered. "Keep them safe for us and bring them home when it is time."
Sailor Pluto bowed to them all. "You have my word. I will watch out for them. But you all know that they are facing difficult times. These experiences are needed if they hope to claim the power that they will need to defeat this evil."
Her head snapped around and she looked off into the mists. "Now you must go. I will be in contact whenever possible."
The two couples hurried away, leaving her at her solitary post. A few minutes later she heard the sound of more shuffling footsteps, but pretended that she didn't hear them as she focused her gaze on the swirling streams of time.
She was expecting the blast, but it still took her off guard when it hit her in the back and knocked her to the ground. She lay there, dazed, but awake. She kept her eyes closed, feigning unconsciousness.
"Well, well," she heard Discord's voice say as she felt his evil presence draw closer to her. "It seems that the illustrious Sailor Pluto isn't as infallible as once believed."
She felt a hand at her waist and heard a click as a time key was removed from the chain she wore there.
"Thank you for making this easy for me," he drawled. "Those three brats have disappeared from Crystal Tokyo, and I'm pretty sure you had something to do with it. I'm thinking you probably have hidden them in a different time, and now I have the tool I need to search for them."
Pluto longed to jump up and attack him, but knew that to do so would put DJ, Alex, and Katie in severe danger. So she forced herself to remain quiet and still.
There was the sound of running footsteps, and then Jack's voice was heard. "We've found a hidden door. And from the descriptions I've heard, it looks like it leads to Elysian."
"Ah," Discord mused. "Elysian, hmm…that would be the perfect place to hide someone that you don't want found. It's the one place that I am unable to go to on my own. But now that I'm here and there is a door so conveniently available to me, I think it could be advantageous to check it out."
"This sucks! How much longer do we have to stay here? I'm going crazy!" Katie groaned as she stomped into the entertainment room of the palace in Elysian and threw herself down in a recliner. "I want to go home!"
"Damn it, Tinkerbell! Is all you ever do is bitch?" DJ snapped. "I'm sick and tired of listening to your whining and complaining."
Her eyes glittered dangerously. "Why don't you shut the hell up, asshole? Nobody asked for your opinion!"
He glared at her. "Why don't you make me, blondie? You think you're so big and bad, so bring it on!"
"With pleasure!" she snarled as she jumped up from the chair. "I hope you've got a big enough band aid to cover your ass when I get done kicking it."
"Whoa!" Alex cried, throwing himself between them. "What the hell is wrong with you two? You've both spent the last several weeks either ignoring each other or at each other's throats. This shit is getting really old. You guys didn't fight like this when we were kids."
DJ and Katie continued their death glares at each other around Alex, but remained silent. Every since the night of their disastrous kiss and their subsequent exile to Elysian, they had reverted back to their childish picking on one another. Only now it was fueled by pain and heartache, and it often resulted the harshest insults they had ever thrown at each other and the two of them practically toe to toe.
"Knock it off, both of you!" Alex ground out. "I'm tired of trying to keep the two of you from killing each other. Do you really think that stomping the shit out of one another is going to make our situation any better?"
Hazel clashed with blue for a long moment in a furious battle of wills for moment before Katie shrugged and walked away.
"Whatever," she growled. "I'm going to go practice some more. I've gotta do something to pass the time."
DJ's mouth popped open to let out what was sure to be another insult, so Alex quickly clapped a hand over his friend's mouth and glared at him with a furious shake of his head.
Katie had just reached the door when there was a loud explosion and the entire palace rocked on its foundation, sending all three tumbling to the floor.
"What the hell was that?" they all three exclaimed at once as they began climbing back to their feet.
There was a puff of magenta smoke as Sailor Pluto appeared in the middle of the room. "Thank the gods, you're all together. Come on. We have to leave now."
"What's going on?" DJ demanded.
Pluto shook her head. "We don't have time now, but I promise I will explain everything in a little while. But right now I've got to get you three out of here."
She turned to look at Helios, who had appeared in the doorway. "Call Endymion and Serenity. They will send help. And make sure you tell them that the package is being delivered."
Then she grabbed all three teens and pulled them close as a bright pink light surrounded them.
What seemed to be a few seconds later, they all hit the ground hard. After taking a moment to catch their breath, DJ, Alex, and Katie sat up, surprised to find themselves in a bright, sunny park, a very familiar park.
Katie scrambled to her feet. "Oh thank god, we're finally home! I don't even want to see Elysian again for a good long while." She looked around to get her bearings, and then glanced toward where the Crystal Palace should be so she could tell what direction she should head to go home.
"What happened to the palace," she shrieked when she didn't see it standing where it was supposed to be.
This caught the boy's attention and they looked around in confusion as well as they took in the difference in the city skyline. It was Crystal Tokyo, but it looked so different. Some of the buildings were familiar, but there were others that they had never seen before.
Sailor Pluto grinned at them before she glowed for a moment and transformed into her civilian form. "Welcome to Tokyo. We are now in the early 21st century."
"You mean we're in the past?" DJ asked in disbelief.
"That's right," she confirmed. "Elysian is no longer safe for you to stay in, and it would be suicide to send you home, so I decided that this would be the best place for you. Rini is already here, although she hasn't been informed that you three were coming. Now it's time to look up some old friends."
She snapped her fingers and a large handbag appeared in her hands. She reached in and pulled out three baseball caps and three pairs of sunglasses and handed them to them. "Put these on. I don't want to start a panic. I'm going to have to break this to them gently. You DJ in particular, make sure you keep your face covered. Darien and Serena would likely have heart attacks if they saw you before I tell them."
"Wait a minute!" Alex croaked. "You don't mean…" he was unable to finish.
Trista sighed. "Yes, we're going to the Crown Arcade. As soon as I locate Rini, it will be time for you to meet your parent's past selves."
Andrew jumped up from the booth where he was sitting across from Kunzite as they were going over some of the details of their joint business venture.
"I think I left that file sitting on my desk, I'll be right back," he said, hurrying toward the arcade's office. He had finished his business degree about nine months ago and his father had practically turned over the running of the family business to him. He had decided that it was time to expand, and had entered into a deal with Kunzite and the other generals.
Soon the Crown would be more than an arcade. It would be part of an entertainment multiplex. They had bought the whole block and had leveled all of the old crumbling buildings before replacing it with one big, new super structure.
The original arcade was still there, but it was connected to the new building that housed an ice-skating rink, bowling alley, dance club, restaurant, and several other small shops. It would be an entertainment paradise for people of all ages. The old arcade had undergone a transformation in order to fit in with this new image.
This had pleased his fiancé to no end. As an artist, Jess was always looking for ways to change things up and give it more pizzazz. She had been begging him as long as he had known her to let her redecorate the arcade. As he looked around now, he could see that she had truly left her mark on this place. The bright colors and bold designs seemed to increase the level of excitement and enticed the kids that came in to spend their allowance freely.
He grinned as he thought of his fiancé. Spunky and bright, she always kept him on his toes. She would be graduating college in a few months with a degree in art. Then they had the rest of their lives ahead of them.
He'd had to restrain himself on several occasions from hauling her in front of the first preacher he could find and marrying her right then, but she had wanted to wait until she had finished school before taking the plunge with him. Being the understanding person he was, he had respected her wishes. And after seeing some of the headaches that his best friend and his fiancé were going through with wedding plans, even though the wedding was still months away, he was kind of dreading that part.
Lost in thought, he really wasn't paying attention to where he was going. As he passed the door that led to the bathrooms, he ran smack dab into someone that was walking through it. Taken by surprise, they both fell to the floor. Shaking his head, Andrew looked over to see who he had bumped into.
A young girl of about sixteen sat there muttering to herself. "Well that's just damn great. You'd think I'd be able to walk through a simple door without winding up flat on my ass. I swear, shit always seems to happen to me."
Andrew chuckled as he watched her arguing with herself. She pushed her long, light blonde hair out of her face and reached for the black baseball cap that must have fallen off her head when she fell.
He got to his feet and offered a hand to her. "Sorry about that. I wasn't watching where I was going."
At the sound of his voice, her head snapped up. She was wearing dark sunglasses, but they had been knocked askew when she fell, and Andrew caught a glimpse of one widened, surprised hazel eye before she shoved the glasses back into place.
"It's fine," she said in a quiet voice as she took his offered hand. "I always seem to mess up the simplest things. I'm used to it."
He watched as she twisted her hair up and shoved it under the cap. He didn't know why, but she felt familiar to him. "I'm sorry, but have we met before? You look familiar to me for some reason."
She shook her head. "No. I'm new to town. I haven't really met anyone yet."
Andrew shook off the feeling of déjà vu. "Welcome to Tokyo. My name's Andrew by the way."
The girl seemed to cringe at his words before she whispered. "My name's Katie."
"Well it was nice to bump into you." Andrew said cheerfully. "I hate to chat and run, but I'm in the middle of a business meeting. Maybe I'll see you around."
He hurried off toward the office, not knowing that the girl stood there staring after him with tears in her eyes.
"Daddy," she whispered as she reached up to wipe away a tear from her cheek. Once she composed herself, she returned to the booth that she was sitting at with Alex and DJ. She slid in beside her brother and laid her head on his shoulder.
"Hey, are you okay?" Alex asked in concern. "Did something happen?"
She just shook her head. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to go home. Seeing her father's past self had stirred up a wave of homesickness in her that threatened to crack her icy shell.
She closed her eyes tiredly, not knowing that a pair of blue eyes were studying her intently from behind the lenses of dark sunglasses across the table.
DJ knew that something had shaken her up, but knew that if he asked her about it, it would start a fight, and Trista had warned them before she had left them at the arcade to go find Rini to not do anything that would draw attention to them.
He looked out the large window and gasped as a black haired man in a green jacket walked by, heading for the arcade entrance. He slumped down in his seat as his father's past self walked in the sliding doors.
"Shit, shit, shit!" he hissed under his breath, catching the attention of his companions. They both looked up and their mouths fell open as they saw the younger version of King Endymion striding through the room.
"Drew, Kunzite," Darien called out in greeting as he waved toward the back of the arcade. He stopped at the counter long enough to say hello to Lizzy and pick up the cup of coffee she had poured for him before walking to a table in the back.
All three teens slouched down as Darien walked by their table and held their breath as he passed within inches of them. Then they gasped as they saw two men stand to greet the newcomer.
"Oh crap!" Alex whispered. "Dad's here too? This is getting scary." Then he looked at his sister. "You knew, didn't you? That's what had you upset before."
She nodded. "I kinda ran into him when I was coming out of the bathroom. It was freaky."
They all three began praying with all of their might that Trista would get back with Rini soon before something happened to blow their cover.
Darien sat across from his best friend, sipping a cup of coffee as they waited for the women in their lives to finally make an appearance. He glanced at his watch. "The mall closed ten minutes ago, so they should be here soon."
Andrew nodded. "I'm just glad we're not with them. I get tired just watching them shop."
"True," Darien agreed. "I don't see how they can keep going for hours like that. I guess it's a woman thing."
Right on cue, the arcade's doors slid open to reveal two women completely loaded down with shopping bags. One was a golden blonde with a ponytail that went past her hips and wide, china blue eyes, while the other was a few inches taller and wore her dark, honey blonde, waist length hair in a thick French braid and had deep sapphire eyes.
Darien chuckled at the sight. "Did you two leave anything in the stores for other people to buy?"
Both women stuck their tongues out at him before giggling and dropping the bags. Sliding into the seats next to their significant others, they greeted them with a hug and a kiss.
Andrew let out a low whistle as he studied the pile of purchases now littering the floor. "I'm sure glad you have your own money. I'd go broke supporting your habit if you didn't."
Jess smacked him on the arm. "Don't be a jerk! I had to take advantage of the sales. Warmer weather is right around the corner, and I have to be ready for it."
Andrew rolled his eyes. "What about all of the clothes you have now that are packed into our closet?"
She looked at him, horrified. "But those are from last summer. A stylish young artist such as myself has to keep up with the latest fashions. What would people think of me if I didn't?"
"Says the woman that runs around most of the time in paint stained jeans and t shirts," he muttered, earning an elbow in his ribs.
"So what are we doing tonight?" Serena chirped. "Dinner, movie, perhaps both?" she asked sweetly, fluttering her eyes innocently at her fiancé.
"Definitely food," Jess moaned. "I need to recharge after our spree."
The women began talking about where to go eat while Andrew let his eyes wander. His gaze landed on the girl from earlier. She was sitting in a booth at the back with two boys. He could see light brown hair peeking out from underneath the baseball cap of the boy sitting next to her. They had been sitting there for a couple of hours now, not speaking and barely moving, Just sipping on sodas while they looked out the windows.
The girl, Katie she'd said her name was, had laid her head on the shoulder of the boy next to her some time ago and seemed to have fallen asleep. It was hard to tell because she was still wearing those sunglasses. In fact, all three teens were wearing hats and sunglasses, despite the fact that the sun had set long ago.
"Hey Liz," Andrew called out to his sister as she passed by. "It's about closing time. Shouldn't you be ushering those kids out of here?"
Lizzy looked at him in surprise. "Oh, I thought you knew. They came in here earlier with that friend of yours. You know, that tall lady with the long, dark green hair."
Serena perked up with interest. "You mean Trista?"
Lizzy nodded. "Yeah, that's the one. She asked if I had seen Rini, and I told her that she had left with Hotaru earlier. She went to go look for her and asked if they could stay here until they got back. I thought she would have been back by now."
Just then the doors opened again, ushering in a pale-faced Trista dragging a protesting Rini behind her.
"But Puu, why are we here?" Rini complained. "Hotaru and I had plans tonight."
Trista just pointed her finger at the back booth where all three teens had raised their heads at the sound of the pink haired girl's wails.
"Chill out, bubble gum brains," said the boy who was sitting alone. "It's not the end of the world, you know."
"Huh, speak for yourself," the girl huffed. "Personally, I think this is hell."
"You would, blondie," the boy snapped. "You think everything that doesn't go your way is hell."
The other boy just leaned down and laid his head on the table with a resounding thud.
Rini stared, struck speechless for a moment. Then she screeched. "Oh shit! No way! What the hell are you three doing here?
A/N So there you have it! Yay! Now they're in the past. Next chapter our little time travelers meet their parent's past selves. As if there weren't enough sparks already flying between DJ and Katie, now we're going to throw in the others, this could get fun. I hope you liked it. Don't be afraid to hit that button below and tell me what you think. I live for reviews!!! Later gators!
~Sere~