A/N Sorry about this late update, guys! I've had a really crappy week and had to get my mojo back. I had to put my dog that I'd had for sixteen years to sleep, so I just wasn't feeling it for a while. But I'm coping with it and ready to get back to work. I want to thank all of you for your feedback after the last chapter. It seems pretty unanimous that you want to see the past and the future collide for the last battle, so that is the direction that I will be heading. It should make for some pretty dramatic and humorous moments. We'll see. Anyway, since we had a big battle in the last chapter, I wanted to take things back down to a fairly normal level for a bit. So there's no fighting this go round, but there is lots and lots of fluff! So yeah, this is one of those sappy chapters. I've gotta have one every now and then. So let me give out those hugs and we'll move on! BIG HUGS TO:

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You guys are awesome! You really came out of the woodwork for the last chapter and I adore everything that you guys had to say. If someone were to ask me what my biggest inspiration is to write my stories, I would have to say it's my reviewers. You keep me going! Now I'm going to let you move on. Long chapter here, so I hope you all like it!

ENJOY!

The Galactic Trinity

Chapter 24

Back to a Somewhat Normal Life

A group of teens stood huddled around a doorway, staring into a bedroom, most specifically at the bedroom's occupant, with looks on their faces that ranged from humor to fear.

Alex nudged DJ in the ribs. "You wake her up."

"No way!" DJ hissed back. "You do it. She's your sister."

The brown haired boy shrugged. "Yeah, but as you're so fond of pointing out, she's your girlfriend."

Emma tilted her head slightly as she studied the girl that was currently curled up on her side in the bed. "Maybe we should leave her alone. She looks like she's sleeping peacefully."

Hannah sighed. "I admit that the rest is good for her after she drained herself so much during the fight at the time gate yesterday, but she needs food too to help replenish her energy. She only picked at her dinner last night when she woke up for that short time."

Alex snorted. "At least she woke up then. I slept right through dinner and then woke up about 3:00 this morning and had to go raid the kitchen I was so hungry."

DJ grinned. "Same here. I vaguely remember Serena coming into my room last night and telling me that Andrew had made dinner, but I was still so delirious at that point that I just rolled over and went back to sleep."

Rini snickered and propped her chin on her brother's shoulder. "And you accuse me and mom of sleeping like the dead."

Skye huffed and folded her arms across her chest as she leaned against the wall. "Not that this isn't fun and all, but in case the rest of you have forgotten, we happen to be on vacation. And since we have no enemy threat to worry about at this moment I can think of about twelve other things I could be doing with my time instead of standing around in a hallway with you guys and spying on a sleeping girl like a damn voyeur."

An evil chuckle came from Jayden as he shouldered his way past the older teens. "If you guys want her woken up that bad then just step back and let a real man take care of this. I'll show you how to wake a lady up." He strode confidently toward the bed.

Suddenly DJ and Alex felt a flood of awareness enter their minds, but it was too late to call Jayden back now. The blonde boy was already beside the bed and was reaching a hand toward Katie's shoulder.

"If you actually touch me, I will personally rip off your arm and shove it down your throat!" Katie snarled in a cold, deadly tone.

Jayden yelped and jumped back so far that he crashed into the futon where Alex slept and fell on it with a harsh whoosh of breath.

Katie sat up and rubbed her eyes before glaring at the group standing around the door. "Don't you people have better things to do than to stand around watching a girl while she sleeps? I'm not performing any tricks right now."

"That's exactly what I was just saying," Skye grumbled as she stomped down the hall toward the living room. Rini and Hannah trailed after her. Jayden shot one last, wide-eyed look at the furious blonde before he scrambled after them.

"Come on, Cupcake," Emma said, pulling on Alex's arm. "She's awake now, so let's give her a chance to pull herself together." They disappeared down the hall, leaving DJ alone in the doorway.

He grinned as he pushed away from the doorframe and entered the room. "Good morning, Sunshine!"

"Wrong twin!" Katie growled as she rubbed her eyes again, trying to get rid of the gritty feeling in them. "So to what do I owe the honor of having seven people hanging around my bedroom door when I wake up?"

DJ chuckled as he sat down on the side of the bed next to her. "We were trying to see who was brave enough to venture in here and face your wrath. Lita decided to treat everyone to a big breakfast at her restaurant this morning and we didn't want you to miss out."

"Oh," she muttered, and then looked up at him curiously. "Why didn't you just come and wake me up instead of inviting the whole crew?"

He shook his head. "Sweetheart, I love you more than life itself, but you can be absolutely scary when you first wake up. If you were going to threaten someone with murder I didn't want it to be me."

She twisted her lips up in a pout. "I wouldn't have threatened you. You're different."

He smirked. "I'm different, huh?"

Her blonde head nestled on his shoulder as she scooted closer to him. "Mm hm. I'm sure you would have come up with a very…pleasant way to wake me up."

A groan caught in his throat as he felt her breath brush against his neck. He looked down into her playfully sparkling eyes and dipped his head down, intending to give her a proper good morning kiss.

"Good morning!" a voice sang from the doorway.

They jumped apart from each other and looked to see Jess standing there with a bright smile on her face. Andrew was standing right behind her glowering darkly as he looked over her shoulder.

"Morning!" Katie returned quickly with an answering smile. "So we're going to Lita's for breakfast this morning I hear."

Jess nodded. "We are, just as soon as you drag your lazybones out of bed."

"All right!" Katie laughed. "Just give me a few minutes, okay."

"Okay," Jess replied, and then walked away, dragging a reluctant Andrew with her.

DJ groaned and fell back across the bed. "Your father is going to kill me!"

Katie giggled and bent down to press her lips briefly to his before she scrambled off the bed. "Don't worry about daddy. Mom won't let him do anything. Hmm…" she mused as she stood in front of the closet. "What to wear?"

DJ watched as she pulled a couple of items out, but when she bent over to pick up a pair of shoes from the floor and those flimsy little excuse for shorts she was wearing rode up high, he knew he had to get out of there fast.

He jumped up and almost ran for the door. "I'll just wait with the others until you get ready."

A feline grin tilted up Katie's lips as the door banged shut behind her boyfriend. She remembered hearing a conversation once between her mother, Serena, and Mina when she was about ten years old and they were laughing and joking about the power that women could have over men. She hadn't understood it at the time, but now she was starting to see what they meant. She was far from being some sultry seductress, but the fact that she could send her prince scurrying from the room and looking hot under the collar without even trying filled her with a sense of female pride.

Then her stomach decided to growl loudly, making her giggle as she quickly shed her pajamas and pulled on her clothes. She'd have fun playing with her prince later. Right now she desperately needed food.

Ilene Tsukino clapped her hands together, little hearts and stars popping into her eyes as she took in the women standing around her. "Oh! You all look so beautiful! I think I'm going to cry!" She waved a hand in front of her face as tears did indeed begin spilling down her cheeks.

"Mom…" Serena sighed and took a steep toward her mother.

"Stop!" Ilene screeched and held up a hand. "Don't come any closer! My mascara is running and I would take your father's shotgun and shoot myself if it got on that white satin and ruined it!"

Mina laughed and walked over to one of her worktables to pull a few tissues from a box. She handed them to the weeping woman. "Here, Mama Ilene. I guess I did good, huh?"

Ilene dabbed her face and eyes dry before throwing herself at the blonde. "You did better than good, Mina! These are spectacular! They're quite colorful, I admit, but they suit all of you perfectly."

This was the first time that the mother of the bride had seen the dresses for the bridal party. Mina had wanted to have all of the alterations done before they unveiled them to the sometimes overly critical woman.

Now that Ilene had gotten over her initial shock she began walking around and studying every little detail. "Hmm, well this will definitely be unlike any wedding I've ever been to. I don't believe I've ever even heard of a rainbow themed wedding before. Just please tell me that the men won't be quite as bright."

Serena giggled. "Of course they will! We had their tuxes custom made to match the color of the bridesmaid they are paired with."

Ilene's face paled and she gulped. "Are you being serious, Serena?"

Serena burst into full-blown laughter. "Of course not, mom! We couldn't let the guys outshine us. They will be perfectly normal looking in their black tuxedoes."

The indigo haired woman glared at her daughter. "That was an evil trick to pull on me, Serena Usagi! Do you want to give me a heart attack?"

"Ooo, you're in trouble now," Raye snickered. "She pulled out the first and middle names!"

Lita nodded swiftly. "Uh huh! I always knew to run and hide when my mom did that."

"That was a dirty trick, Serena," Amy admonished her.

"Wow! And I thought my mom could be scary," Jess barely whispered.

Serena rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay! So it was a bad joke! Sue me!"

"All right!" Mina said in a placating tone as she began herding them all toward a curtained off area. "Let's get changed before any spats break out. I really don't want to have to remake any of these dresses because they got destroyed in a catfight."

Amid a lot of giggles and good-natured grumbling, the six women got changed back into their street clothes and started saying their goodbyes as they began to break away.

Lita had to hurry back to the restaurant and make sure that everything was cleared away from their breakfast that morning and that her staff was getting everything prepared before they opened for business for the day.

Amy had to get to the hospital. She was doing a student program that allowed her to follow doctors around and observe them as they worked. And between her mother, Zoicite, and Darien, they were keeping her busy.

Raye left to go down to the club, grouching about having to do payroll and the orders she needed to make. She briefly grumbled that she needed to hire a manager before shaking her head. She was too much of a take charge kind of person to let anyone else run her business.

Mina had a full appointment book for that afternoon, but she laughed that she didn't have that far to go. That was the good thing about having the salon and boutique right next to each other; she could keep an eye on both of them at the same time. Of course everyone knew that Kunzite handled the books for her.

Jess said a quick goodbye before dashing off as well. She had a meeting set up with Natasha, a gallery owner that she had done a few showings for, to discuss possibilities for a showing this summer.

In just a matter of minutes Serena and Ilene were the only two left.

"So do you have to run off as well, or do you have time to grab a cup of tea with your old mom?" Ilene teased.

Serena laughed. "You're hardly old, mom. I have to go to work at the preschool in a little while, but I think I have a few minutes to spare."

A short while later they were seated at a small table on the second level of the atrium in the multiplex, both sipping on steaming cups of white tea.

After a minute of companionable silence, Ilene set her cup down and looked seriously at her daughter. "So, only about five months left until the big day."

Serena's eyes glittered happily. "Yeah. I can hardly wait. Serena Shields. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

A girlish giggle escaped her mother's mouth. "Yes, it does. I know most mothers would be telling their daughters that twenty one is too young to get married and that they have plenty of time to think about that later, but that would be hypocritical of me. I got married at eighteen and had you when I was twenty. A lot of people said I was crazy to get married so young to a man seven years older than me and that I was throwing my life away, but I wouldn't change a thing about it. Your father and I have had twenty three wonderful years of marriage together, and I still love him as much now as I did the day I said 'I do'. I'm sure you and Darien will be the same. I could see a connection between the two of you the first time I saw you together."

Serena took a sip of her tea. "Wow, mom! You sure are being philosophical today."

Ilene smiled, but her eyes stayed serious. "I guess I am. Seeing you in that wedding dress and surrounded by your friends just brought home the truth that my little baby is all grown up now. You're getting married and one day will have children of your own. It seems like only yesterday you were just a little girl, and then you became a young woman overnight. You found your friends and a boyfriend, and then you were off doing your own thing and I hardly ever saw you anymore."

Serena felt a surge of guilt. It was true that from the time she was fourteen and she had become Sailor Moon that she had started spending more and more time away from home. She was always busy either fighting enemies or with the others trying to plan their next move. And even in times of peace she had spent most of her time either with Darien or the girls. "Mom, I…"

Her mother held up a silencing hand. "You don't have to explain anything to me, honey. It's all part of growing up. Kids get older and they don't need their parents as much as they used to. I understood that and I backed off and gave you your space. Besides, I always knew that there was something special about you and your friends."

Serena's eyes widened and she sputtered a little on her tea. "What are you talking about, mom?"

Ilene smiled mysteriously. "I'm not talking about anything dear. I'm simply saying that mothers aren't quite as easily fooled as their children would like to think they are. But everyone is entitled to their secrets. And I know that if and when you think the time is right, you will tell me yours."

Serena stared down contemplatively into her cup for several long seconds before looking up. "I…I…"

Ilene leaned across the table and cupped her daughter's cheek. "You don't have to say anything right now, Serena. I just wanted to let you know that grown up or not, I'm still your mother, and I'll always be here for you. Now you have work to get to and I have a charity luncheon, so we better get going. But let's not go so long again before we have a good heart to heart. I miss talking with you."

Despite the crazy thumping of her heart at the realization that her mother was probably well aware of the fact that she was Sailor Moon, Serena smiled and nodded. "Okay, mom. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart. Now get going before you're late."

Crystal Tokyo – The 30th Century

"Good God!" Lita exclaimed as two teens came stumbling into the massive kitchen of the Crystal Palace. "I figured after the meal I fed you two yesterday and then you sleeping for like twenty hours that you guys would be looking better, but you still look just as rough as you did when Trista came dragging your sorry butts back here."

"Har, Har," Sasha muttered sarcastically as she dropped into a chair and let her head fall to the table. "Thanks for the compliment. My head is pounding!"

"Ditto," Jack groaned as he took a seat next to her. "This feels just like the time DJ, Alex, and I…uh, never mind." He quickly cut off whatever he was going to say as three sets of blue eyes and one hazel swung to him.

"The time you three did what?" Jess asked in a deceptively sweet tone as she propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her palms.

"It was nothing," he insisted. He sure wasn't about to tell the adults about the time the three of them had gone head to head in a drinking contest or the price he had paid for it the next day. It still grated on his nerves that DJ had won it so easily and appeared to be only slightly intoxicated by the end of it.

Amy had her computer out and was scanning them. She clucked her tongue. "It looks like both of you are suffering from the atmospheric pressure differences between the time plane and here. You spent so long there without a break that it's taking your bodies a while to adjust. Here." She rummaged in her purse for a moment and then handed each of them a pill. "Take this. It should make you feel better."

They both nodded and popped the pills in their mouths as they reached for the glasses of lemonade Lita had set before them.

"So are you guys hungry?" the tall, auburn haired woman asked them. When they nodded she bustled over to the stove and began dishing up whatever she had cooking there. She filled two plates and set them before the teens, who tore into the food with ravenous appetites.

"Wow! I think you've met your match, Meatball Head. I didn't think anyone could eat faster than you," Raye snickered.

Serenity tossed one of her pigtails over her shoulder as she growled, "Keep it up, Pyro…"

"Ladies, please," Endymion said in a placating tone. "Let's save the bickering for later. I'm trying to enjoy my lunch and I don't need the indigestion."

Just then the back door opened and Jadeite, Nephrite, and Zoicite came trooping in. The king sighed and set the fork he'd had halfway to his mouth back down before he asked, "So what's the word?"

"All's quiet so far," Nephrite replied. "The guards at all of the checkpoints say that people have been amazingly cooperative. There have been a few assholes here and there, but nothing that's been a big deal."

Zoicite nodded. "And that's saying something considering the amount of traffic that has been coming in and out of the city since it has been festival season. Thank goodness we are done with that now."

Jadeite sighed tiredly. "Yeah, that will definitely make things easier." Then he looked around curiously. "Hey! Where are Kunz and Mina?"

"They went on a little…side mission," Serenity hedged.

Endymion groaned when he saw the three men's eyes narrow suspiciously. "We sent them to check out Discord's compound. We're pretty sure that even he wouldn't be stupid enough to go back there, but it's worth looking into. He may have left some clue behind about what he's planning."

"You let them go alone?" all three generals bellowed.

As if their words had conjured them up, Mina and Kunzite came through the kitchen door.

"Down boys!" Kunzite said gruffly. "The last time I checked it was still a free world and we could do what we wanted." Then he addressed the king. "The place was clean. It looks like it was abandoned pretty quickly, but we didn't find anything incriminating."

Mina shook her head. "Nope. Not even one sentinel kitty hairball was left behind."

Serenity sighed and twirled some pasta around her fork. "Well, I really wasn't expecting you to find anything anyway. Discord may suffer from 'I am the best' complex, but I have to give credit where credit is due. He's not stupid. He's not going to want anyone to know where he's holing up to lick his wounds. Talon's men have volunteered to stake out the obvious places, so they're watching their old stronghold up in the mountains and the remains of the Dark Kingdom. If he shows up in either one of those places they'll let us know."

"You know," Jess began in a casual tone. "If you want him to show himself that badly, I bet I could get him to do it. All I'd have to do is step one foot outside the city gates and he'd probably be all over me like jelly on peanut butter."

A loud chorus of protests came from around the table, but none were louder than Andrew's. He stood up and slammed his hands down on the table. "Absolutely not! Have you lost your damn mind? You've always been at the top of his hit list, right alongside the kids, but after that little stunt your past self pulled on him yesterday he will be out for revenge more than ever before."

Jess rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. It was just a thought. Don't blow a gasket."

"He's right," Sasha spoke up softly. "I know you said that you've gotten flashes of memory about what happened in the time plane, but you really let him have it."

Jack grinned broadly, obviously feeling better thanks to Amy's fast acting medication. "I'll say she did! She stomped the snot out of that old fart, and then WHAM!" He mimed throwing a dagger and then clutched his chest dramatically. "He dropped like a ton of bricks. All Katie, DJ, and Alex had to do was come in and sweep up the leftovers. It was awesome!"

Jess blew on her fingernails and then buffed them against her shirt. "Naturally." Then she dissolved into giggles.

"The point is," Endymion spoke loudly to be heard over his past daughter's hysterics. She fell quiet but stuck her tongue out at him with a grin. "We don't want to force Discord's hand before it is time. If we do we'll be forced to seal him away again because the kids aren't ready to face him. Then he'll just pop up again somewhere down the road and we'll have to start all over. I'd rather get this done and over with so we don't have to go around looking over our shoulders and the kids can move on with their lives."

"So would I," Serenity sighed. "And now that Trista is back in charge of the time gate she'll be able to see what is going on and warn us if that bastard makes a move."

"I thought someone must have been talking about me. My ears were burning," a slightly husky voice laughed as Trista stepped into the room. She was in her civilian form, which was highly unusual for whenever she made an appearance before her king and queen, and was wearing a lightweight cotton dress in rich wine red. Serenity and Mina shared a conspiratorial smile.

"Trista!" Serenity exclaimed and jumped up from her seat to hurry over and embrace her oldest scout. "I didn't expect to see you back here so soon after yesterday. Is everything okay?"

Trista smiled benevolently at her queen. "Everything is perfectly fine, your majesty. Time has settled back down to a nice, easy flow and luckily there weren't too many repercussions that required my attention. I have to say that it is nice to be able to move freely through my domain again. Although I feel like I need a truckload of disinfectant spray to rid the time plane of that foul beast's presence. But for the first time in a while I can honestly say that I am here strictly as a social call. Well not exactly. It's also a reconnaissance mission too."

The queen tipped her head to the side with a perplexed expression. "What do you mean?"

Trista laughed and pulled a sheet of paper from her skirt pocket. "I have some requests from your children. Let's see…Alex and Hannah both said that they needed their back up batteries for their computers. Emma wants her favorite hot pink tank top. She said that Mina would know which one. Katie wants a red spiral notebook from the bottom shelf in her bedroom, and she says that if anyone looks in it she will skin them alive. Rini wants a tube of lipstick from her vanity table called 'Passionately Pink'. Evidently earbuds in the past aren't compatible with MP3 players from this time, so Skye needs her spare set from the drawer in her bedside table. DJ says that there is a book on his desk that he would like to finish reading and Jayden wants some of Lita's gingersnaps because the Lita of the past doesn't have that recipe yet."

All was silent in the kitchen for several long moments before the adults burst into laughter. It sounded like their kids were getting along just fine in the past.

"Have Amara and Michelle arrived yet?" Trista asked once the laughter had died down.

Serenity waved a hand. "Yes. They just got here about an hour ago and were getting settled into their room. They're probably with Hotaru and little Kenny by now."

Trista smiled. "Then I think I will go visit with them for a little bit. I haven't seen my adopted grandson in a while."

The queen squealed. "Oh, you won't believe how much he's grown! And he looks just like Sammy did at three. I swear he is his daddy's little clone."

Trista laughed lightly and took her leave, making her way down the halls toward the stairs that would take her up to the living quarters. Then she rounded a corner and crashed into what felt like a brick wall.

"Ouch!" she muttered rubbing her slightly stinging nose.

Then a deep chuckle reached her ears. "Well, well, Lady Pluto. We meet again."

Her eyes flew up and clashed with a pair of humorously glittering golden ones. Her breath whooshed out like she had been kicked in the stomach. "Ev…Evan!" she stammered.

He bowed slightly. "I'm pleased to see that you remember me."

'Duh! Like I could forget a tall, sexy, delicious looking hunk of man like you!' she thought to herself.

She forced her voice to stay calm, despite her thoughts. "Well, we just met yesterday, so my memory is still fairly fresh."

"Ahh," he sighed. "Was it only yesterday? It feels like it has been years since I was able to make your lovely acquaintance."

'What a silver tongued devil!' she thought. 'Great Chronos! My knees actually feel weak! Get a grip, girl! You're well over 2,000 years old and he's probably 30. Talk about robbing the cradle!'

"I was about to take a walk through the palace gardens. Would you like to join me?" he asked smoothly.

Her voice deserted her for a moment. "Oh…well…I…" Then she clamped her mouth shut. True, they were still in the middle of a crisis, but surely there could be no harm in her taking just ten tiny little minutes for herself. Right? After all, she was still a person.

"I would love to," she finally answered. She cringed inwardly at how breathless her voice sounded. Great! Now he would think she was desperate.

He offered his elbow to her and she put her arm through it, ignoring the chills and tingles that shivered through her. Good grief! She felt like an adolescent girl on a first date. She may as well start hanging out with Rini, Emma, Katie, Skye, and the Hotaru of the past and join them in their giggle fests over the latest idols.

They swept through a set of glass doors and into one of the many gardens surrounding the palace where riotous displays of flowers of every kind and color grew.

Evan drew in a deep breath. "Beautiful. I've been here before, but never in the spring. Talon and Anya have always said that the gardens here are amazing at this time of year, and they were right."

Trista saw her opening and took it. "So how long have you known Talon and Anya?"

He shrugged. "All my life. Counting the years that we were all hibernating while the Earth was iced over its been a little over 2,000 years now."

His flippant answer stunned her so much that she came to an abrupt halt. "You're from the old days?"

He arched a brow at her. "Yes. That's not a problem, is it? You were born in the time of the Silver Millennium as well, weren't you?"

She shook her head. "Just before it actually. Queen Serenity's mother was still ruling at the time. When she decided to retire to the Elysian Fields after ruling for many centuries, Queen Serenity stepped forward and she formed the Silver Alliance. I was the first sailor scout chosen by her, but I was so young at the time that I don't really remember it."

Evan grinned. "So that only makes you slightly older than me. No offense, but I like that. My sister always picks on me and says that I'm ancient, and I'm only six years older than she is."

"You have a sister?" Trista asked curiously.

He threw back his head and laughed. "I'm Talon's brother in law. Anya is my sister."

"O-oh!" she squeaked. She compared the extremely tall, fair-haired; golden eyed man to the almost petite woman with dark hair and eyes and shook her head. "I'm afraid that I don't see the family resemblance."

He laughed again. "Nobody ever does. I took after my father while Anya is the spitting image of our mother. It usually throws people off when we tell people that we are siblings."

Trista laughed lightly as well. "I guess it does." Then she sobered. "So were you with Talon while he was with Discord?"

The smile melted off his face. "I wouldn't exactly call it being with him. Once Beryl was out of the picture and we realized that Talon had taken up with Discord, a lot of us wanted to strike out on our own. Our magic grants us with an infinite lifespan, barring a fatal injury or illness, and we didn't like the idea of spending endless centuries living under that. Some people left, but Anya refused to leave Talon behind so I stayed there to be with her. But I was never part of Discord's scheme. I didn't want to have anything to do with it."

"Oh! I didn't mean to imply that you did," Trista hastily reassured him. "I was just wondering."

His infectious smile was back in place. "Let's not talk about depressing things. The day is sunny and these gardens are beautiful, so let's enjoy it while we can. I'm sure you'll have to scurry away soon, and I would like to take advantage of every moment I can with you."

She returned his smile and tightened her grip on his arm as they continued down the garden path, completely oblivious to the two sets of blue eyes watching them gleefully from one of the palace windows.

"Did you see that?" the two blonde women squealed together.

"Serena…" Endymion sighed.

"Mina…" Kunzite echoed.

Both women spun around and stuck their tongues out at their husbands before collapsing into giggles.

Tokyo – Present Day

"Wow!" Alex whispered as his thudding heart finally settled back into a normal rhythm.

The blonde head lying on his shoulder shifted and hazy gray eyes looked up at him lovingly. "You took the word right out of my mouth."

He sighed deeply. "I guess we should get up and dressed in case somebody comes home."

"Yeah, we probably should," Emma said softly, but she didn't move. After a minute she groaned, "Oh man, do we have to? I'm nice and comfy laying here."

He chuckled and bent down to kiss the tip of her nose. "Yeah, me too. But if we get busted and your dad finds out he will kill me. And I'd kinda like to stay alive."

"I know, I know," she growled as she sat up. "He's such a caveman! And he's just as bad here as he is in the future. I mean really! I'm seventeen years old! I'm not a child!"

Dark blue eyes roamed over her approvingly. "No. You are definitely not a child."

Her gray eyes snapped back at him. "Don't start something we can't finish!" She stood up and started gathering her discarded clothes.

"Sorry," he said with a grin as he rolled off the futon that served as his bed and reached for his boxers. He stood there for a moment and watched her reverse striptease as she shimmied into her undergarments and skirt. She was reaching for her shirt when he gave into temptation and wrapped his arms around her from behind and pulled her against him where he placed a string of kisses across her shoulder.

Her head fell back with a groan. "Alex…"

He forced himself to let her go. "Sorry. You just look so good standing there half naked."

She laughed and pushed at his shoulder. "You are so bad! Now get dressed. We're supposed to be meeting the others for a late lunch."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled as he pulled his jeans on. "But one day we are going to have a place of our own where we don't have to sneak around and hide from the parents."

Emma glanced over her shoulder at him from where she was brushing her hair in front of the mirror. "I can't wait. Now what's our cover story going to be? Your sister and DJ were going to a movie. Jayden and Hannah were going to catch the last day of the festival. And Skye is working with Lita. We have to come up with something."

"I don't know," Alex huffed as he pulled his t-shirt over his head. "We'll just say that we walked around the mall or something. I don't think they'll really care."

Katie's breathing was ragged as aftershocks of pleasure skittered up and down her spine. She untangled her fingers from the damp black hair and pushed at the heavy weight on top of her. "You're smushing me," she managed to gasp.

"Sorry," DJ groaned in her ear as he rolled off of her. He settled next to her and pulled her close to his side.

Even though she was still basking in the afterglow of lovemaking, Katie couldn't help but giggle at the hilarity of their situation.

DJ raised his head to look at her. "What's so funny?"

She laughed even harder at the sight of the cross look on his face. After a minute she composed herself enough to say, "We are." She wiped a few tears from her eyes. "There is a bed only five feet away from us, and yet here we are on the floor with most of our clothes still on."

"It's not my fault," DJ grumbled as he let his head fall back against the carpet. "You teased me."

Katie's eyes went wide. "I did not! You were the one that dragged me out of the theater barely fifteen minutes into the movie. I was just sitting there watching it. Granted I've seen it at least ten times, but it's a good movie. I thought you wanted to see it again too, so why did you change your mind?"

He rolled over so he could prop himself up on an elbow. Then he glared down at her. "Don't try to be Little Miss Innocent with me! You knew exactly what watching you with that lollipop would do to me."

She smiled sweetly and patted his cheek. "Well if you had been watching the movie instead of me it wouldn't have done anything to you. I certainly didn't say that I wanted you to bring me back here and have your way with me on your bedroom floor."

DJ was suddenly looming over her with a wicked smile. "I didn't hear you complaining either."

She licked her lips and wound her arms around his neck to pull him down. "Of course I didn't complain."

He reared back. "Ah ha! I knew it! You were seducing me!"

"Puh-lease!" she said with a roll of her eyes as she pushed him away from her and climbed a little unsteadily to her feet. "There was no seduction involved. If I wanted to seduce you then I think I could come up with something better than making out with a lollipop. I can't help it if you have an overactive imagination."

DJ growled. "Overactive imagination, huh? I'll show you an overactive imagination." He was on his feet in a second.

Katie squealed at his playfully ferocious look and tried to run. Normally this wouldn't be a problem for her, but she hadn't gotten all of her clothes straightened yet. And with leg in and one leg out of her jeans, that made a quick getaway difficult.

He grabbed her around the waist and spun her around so that her back was to the door. He nipped at her ear as he said in a low voice, "It's too bad that we have to meet the others for lunch, or I'd show you just how overactive my imagination can get."

She couldn't help but tease him just a bit and pressed herself slightly into him. "Oh really? I thought you dealt with facts and figures, not with the world of imagination." And then she fixed her lips over his and let her tongue swirl with his for several long seconds."

They broke apart at the same time and whispered, "I know, we have to go," together. Then they laughed.

A few minutes later they were both presentable looking and left the apartment. Just as they stepped out into the hall, the door to Andrew and Jess's apartment opened and out came Alex and Emma. The four teens all froze.

"Shit!" Katie muttered under her breath and waited for all hell to break loose. Her brother could be as overprotective as her father, and even worse on some occasions. She just knew that he would assume the worst and hit the ceiling.

But surprisingly Alex just grinned and threw an arm around Emma's shoulders before saying. "Well look at that! Looks like we don't need a cover story after all, sweetheart." And then they strolled casually toward the elevator.

"Are you guys coming or what?" he asked once he and Emma were inside the car and he was holding the door open. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."

Katie and DJ recovered from their shock and scrambled after them. When they were all in and the elevator was headed down, Emma and Katie shared conspiratorial looks before bursting into quiet giggles.

Alex and DJ just shook their heads and mumbled, "Women!"

The game attendant's mouth fell open as the blonde haired boy threw the ball to knock down the third pyramid of bottles in a row like it was nothing. Then the overweight man crossed his arms and grumbled, "Which one do you want?" as he pointed up to where the largest prizes were hanging.

Jayden grinned smugly and turned to the girl beside him. "Which one do you like best? That one?" He pointed to an icy blue unicorn.

Hannah shook her head and pointed shyly to a red dragon. "I like that one."

The man pulled it down and handed it to Jayden, who then held it out to Hannah.

Her green eyes widened. "For me?" she squeaked.

He shrugged. "Sure. I don't have any use for a stuffed animal. I just wanted to prove that I could beat the game." Then he leaned down to whisper in her ear, "They're all rigged, you know."

She tried to look reproachful as she accused, "You used your powers!"

"I may have given the bottles a little mental nudge," he answered with a grin. "That's what they get for trying to screw decent people out of their hard earned money. Watch this."

He nodded across the way where a man with a little girl standing next to him had just paid for three darts to throw at balloons. The man threw the darts, and three balloons popped. A minute later the man and his daughter were walking away with a teddy bear that was as big as the little girl.

Hannah smiled. "Normally I would say that was a blatant misuse of your powers, but I think you made that girl's day."

"So does this make your day?" he asked as he placed the dragon in her arms.

She giggled and hugged it close. "It definitely makes it brighter."

Jayden grinned and then took her by the arm. "Hey! Let's go get some snow cones and sit down by the pond."

"But we're meeting the others for lunch in about an hour," Hannah protested.

"Aw, come on! One little snow cone isn't going to ruin your appetite. And besides, where's your festival spirit? You've got to have something," he cajoled.

His smile was infectious. "Okay, you win! We'll have a snow cone."

As they walked through the rest of the games Hannah noticed a large amount of people suddenly winning, especially those with small children or couples that were together. She shook her head and mumbled, "So you're not as big of a jerk as I thought you were."

Jayden turned inquisitive blue eyes in her direction. "Did you say something?"

"Nope! Not a word!" she replied brightly.

A little while later they were sitting down on the grass by the pond with their snow cones. They had both opted for cherry, to each other's surprise. Hannah carefully set her new dragon, who she was secretly calling Flame, over to the side before digging into the red stained ice.

After a few minutes of silence she spoke up. "Hey, Jay, can I ask you something?"

He almost choked. Not just because of the ice slithering down his throat, but because she had called him Jay. She was pretty much the only person that had never used the shortened form of his name before. He gulped hard. "Yeah, sure."

She sucked in a deep breath. "That night, the last time we fought in a battle. You saved me from that guardian. And since then you haven't picked a fight with me once. You've been very nice actually. I was just wondering why."

Jayden flushed bright red like he had been playing with the fire he adored so much. "O…oh! Well…I guess seeing that guardian trying to do you in made me realize how dangerous what we're doing is. And then Katie told us that story about the alternate future that almost happened, and I realized that one of us could die very easily. If I hadn't gotten to you in time that night I would have beaten myself up for the rest of my life for not just letting you die, but for letting you die hating me. Why are you asking me about this now? That was almost two weeks ago."

Now it was Hannah's turn to blush. Her cheeks turned pink like she had been outside on a cold winter's day. "Like I said, I was just wondering about your change in behavior. I would have asked you before, but we've either been busy or there was someone else around." Then she looked up at him with sincere, bright green eyes. "I never hated you, Jay. You irritate the hell out of me sometimes with your perverted ways, but I never hated you."

His face was so red now that it would put his mother's fuku to shame. "You sure could've fooled me. It seemed like every time I turned around you were yelling at me about something or pelting me with snowballs."

She giggled then. "It's a defense mechanism I guess. Like I said, you do irritate me sometimes."

He chuckled. "Yeah. My mom has always said that I'm a pro at it."

Silence hung between them for several moments before Hannah set her snow cone to the side and flung her arms around Jayden's neck. She lightly kissed his cheek before she whispered in his ear. "Thank you for saving me."

He was shocked at her actions, but managed to mutter, "No problem, Snowflake."

Instead of pulling away, she continued hugging him. "I can't believe I'm saying this, and I'm sure you've had a hundred other girls tell you, but I like you…a lot, Jay."

That had his head snapping around, his blue eyes flaring wide. As he took in the slightly wavy sapphire hair that tumbled to her shoulders and those clear green eyes looking out from her dainty, pixie face, a sudden realization hit him like a punch to the gut. Just when had he developed a crush on the girl he loved to torment so much?

His eyes zeroed in on her lips. They were stained red from the cherry snow cone and only about twelve inches away from his. Did he dare kiss her? She might freeze him in a chunk of ice if he did. But then he decided, what the hell! He leaned forward and pressed his lips firmly to hers. They were cool, but unbelievably soft, and he liked the way they felt.

A startled squeak caught in Hannah's throat when she suddenly found herself being kissed. She hadn't expected this when she had confessed her feelings. In fact, she figured that he would laugh at her about having a crush on him. After all, he was very good looking, and he had a fan club of girls back home that was almost as big as the one that followed DJ and Alex around.

But here he was, kissing her. Her reflexes almost had her pulling away, but those warm, oh so warm lips, made her feel like she was melting. So instead of backing away, she returned the pressure he was exerting with her own and let her eyes flutter shut.

It didn't last long, only about ten seconds, and then they slowly pulled away from each other.

Hannah's eyes blinked open slowly, looking a little dazed. "That was my first kiss," she whispered shyly.

Jayden chuckled nervously and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "Yeah, mine too."

"No way! You have got to be joking!" she exclaimed. "What about all of those girls you flirt with? You can't seriously expect me to believe that you have never kissed any of them!"

He looked away and grumbled. "Well I haven't! Flirting is just for fun. But kissing…well…it's personal."

Hannah didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she settled for snapping, "So why did you kiss me?"

"Because I like you too!" he almost yelled back as he whipped his head back around to look at her in exasperation. "Now go ahead and laugh at me for being a fraud."

She didn't laugh. Instead she leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to his lips before pulling back with a smile. "You're not a fraud. You're just…you." Then she looked down at her watch. "We should get going. It's almost time to meet the others."

He stood up and then offered her a hand to help her up. Once she was standing he gave her another short kiss before grinning widely. "I could get used to this kissing thing."

She huffed as she bent down to pick up her beloved dragon. "As long as you don't go around kissing other girls."

He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Ooo, is that a note of jealousy I hear in that voice?"

She spun around and glared at him. "You better believe it, buster! If you think you can take off and start smooching with other girls after kissing me you've got another thing coming! I will freeze you in ice so thick that even your awesome fire power will never be able to melt it!"

Jayden just laughed and grabbed her hand. "Cool! A possessive woman! I like that!"

Zoicite looked up as his office door flew open with a bang to admit an unusually fuming, blue haired virago. He watched as she flung herself down on the couch and kicked her shoes off with so much force that they sailed across the room.

He fought back a chuckle. "Bad afternoon, love?"

Amy growled and glared up at him with eyes that resembled ice chips instead of her usual calm pools of blue. "Don't talk to me! I'm cranky!"

He ignored her request as he got up from his chair and walked around the desk. "What's wrong? Is hospital life not quite how you imagined it? It's not too late for you to change your classes to something else."

Her eyes went colder and harder. "Very funny, Zoi! You know that I have never wanted to be anything but a doctor, and I love spending time here and watching how everything works. It's just…" Her eyes filled up with tears.

This alarmed Zoicite greatly. Amy was never one for being overly emotional, so something must have upset her greatly. He was on his knees in front of her in a flash. "Sweetheart! What's wrong?"

She shook her head violently, sending sparkling tears flying from her lashes, before she lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a stranglehold. Sobs burst from her chest as she buried her face in his neck and her entire body trembled like a leaf in a breeze.

He stood slowly with her in his arms and sat on the couch with her curled on his lap. He stroked his fingers gently up and down her spine for several minutes until he felt her begin to calm. Then he asked gently, "Now will you tell me what's wrong?"

Her head rose up to look at him. Her entire face was red and swollen and her eyes were still swimming with tears. "I…I saw a man die," she whispered.

Comprehension clicked in Zoicite's head. To those in the medical field, the first time they witnessed a patient dying was always the hardest. But since Amy was just here to observe and wasn't scheduled to start her student rotations for another couple of semesters, her mother, Darien, and he had been careful so far to not let her witness any casualties.

He hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry, honey. I know it's hard. But as much as we would like to save everybody that comes in here, I'm afraid we can't."

"It was just so unexpected," she mumbled through pale lips. "The man came in with chest pains and mom said that he'd had a mild heart attack. He was responding well to the medication and then…he went into cardiac arrest. They tried to bring him back, but he was gone." She began softly crying again.

"Shh…" he shushed her soothingly as he pushed her head back down to his shoulder and rocked gently from side to side.

There was a soft knock at the door before it opened a crack and another blue head popped in. Dr. Mizuno took one look at her distraught daughter being held in her boyfriend's arms and flew into the room.

"Oh, Amy!" she cried softly as she knelt down beside them. "I'm so sorry you had to see that!" She reached out to brush Amy's blue bangs back. "Oh my! You're as cold as ice! And your lips are turning blue!"

Zoicite felt Amy's tears beginning to freeze on his neck and knew that she was withdrawing into her powers to help deal with her emotions. He also knew that he needed to get her out of there before somebody noticed something strange.

He stood up and cradled her in his arms. "I'm going to take her home so she can get some rest," he told her mother.

Dr. Mizuno nodded. "That's probably for the best. Normally I would suggest a hot bath for a shock like this, but in her case I think a cool one would be better. My Amy always did prefer things to be on the chilly side."

Zoicite felt some warmth flood back into Amy's skin right before she lifted her head to look at her mother in confusion. "Mom?"

The doctor pressed two fingers to her daughter's lips. "Hush. We'll talk later. Now you let Zoicite take you home and take care of you, okay."

Amy nodded. "Okay. Put me down, Zoi. I can walk."

He looked a little skeptical, but he set her on her feet. She walked stiffly over to where her shoes were and slid them back on before returning to Zoicite's side. She mustered a small smile for her mother before letting him wrap an arm around her and lead her from the room.

Darien stood in his office doorway, watching them. He'd been in the ER and had seen Amy run away after the heart attack victim was pronounced dead. "Everything okay?" he asked softly.

Zoicite nodded. "Yeah. I'm just going to take her home."

Darien shared a look of understanding with his friend. He remembered well his own traumatic experience the first time he'd seen a patient die. Thank goodness he'd had Serena to go to. He'd left the hospital and had gone straight to her house, even though it was really late at night, and had crawled through her bedroom window. Normally a hurricane wouldn't wake her up, but she had sensed his chaotic emotions and had woken up immediately. She'd scooted over in the bed and opened her arms to him, and he'd gone into them willingly and let her hold him throughout the night. Being a doctor meant dealing with both life and death. It never got easier, but you learned to cope.

Zoicite bundled Amy into the elevator, and after the short ride down he ushered her across the parking garage to his car. He got her settled inside and then took his place behind the wheel. He started the engine and turned on the defroster.

Then he gave her a gentle smile. "There! Now you can vent and I'll still be able to see out the windshield to get us home."

She gave a shaky giggle. "I'll be okay. I just lost it there for a minute. I always knew that I would have to deal with this one day. I just wasn't expecting it to be today. But I think I have a bigger problem than that."

Zoicite paused in buckling his seatbelt. "You mean what your mom was hinting at?"

Amy nodded. "I've thought many times over the years that she was suspicious about me and the other girls being the sailor scouts. She never said anything outright, but little comments she made here and there made me suspect that she knows. The girls and I even talked about letting her in on the secret back several years ago, thinking that it might come in handy to have a full fledged doctor on our side in case someone got injured beyond mine or Darien's capabilities. But it seemed like we had a new enemy popping up every time we turned around and I was scared that she would become a target if we involved her."

Zoicite turned in his seat to face her fully. "Maybe you should have a talk with Serena. Perhaps it's time for your mom to be let in on things."

She sighed. "You may be right. We couldn't expect to keep it a secret from everyone forever. I'll call Serena in a little while and see what she thinks. But right now I just want to go home."

He put the car in gear. "Just sit tight. I'll have us there in a few minutes."

He breathed a sigh of relief when he pulled into the penthouse's parking garage and found it completely empty. Everyone else must still be at work and they had left Amy's car at the hospital. The kids were more than likely out and about somewhere, so that meant that they wouldn't have to deal with the others pestering them with questions.

And that was a good thing since Amy wouldn't like the others seeing her in such a weak moment. She was still extremely pale and her lips still had a bluish tinge to them. Her face was streaked with trails of frost from her tears.

Zoicite led her straight to the bathroom when they entered their suite. "Bath or shower?" he asked gently, gesturing between the large sunken tub and the huge glassed in shower.

"Shower," she replied softly.

He went over to the shower and turned both showerheads on full blast. He adjusted the water until it was just a little bit warmer than what Amy would normally set it on. She might prefer things cool, and her body temperature did run a couple of degrees below the normal average, but she was still only human despite her Mercurian powers and it wasn't good for her to stay too cold for a long time.

He turned to find her fumbling with the buttons of her blouse and he went to help her. He carefully undressed her and then steered her to the shower.

Just as she was stepping in she turned and grabbed his tie to pull him toward her. "Stay with me," she whispered.

He nodded and then nudged her on in. "I'll be there in a second." It took him a few minutes to shed all of his clothes, and then he stepped into the shower.

Amy had just finished lathering up her short blue hair, and she leaned back under one of the sprays of water to rinse the shampoo out. He reached for his shampoo and quickly tackled his own hair. He had his head under the showerhead when he felt what Amy called her "scrubby pouf" gliding across his back. He pulled back to look over his shoulder into a pair of thankfully calm, clear blue eyes.

Then the smell of her peach body wash tickled his nose and he joked, "You're going to make me smell like a woman!"

A genuine smile appeared on her face and a real laugh, not a forced one, bubbled past her lips. "I just figured I'd wash your back and you could wash mine."

He turned and took the pouf from her before spinning her around to gently scrub her back. He let his fingers trail over her skin too and was thrilled to feel that it seemed to have returned to her normal temperature.

She squealed and danced away from him when he purposefully stroked a particularly ticklish spot at the small of her back. She dashed back under the water and let it wash the suds away. "You're so evil! You know that tickles!"

He grinned at her. "Yes, I do." Then he took a step toward her. "So are you feeling better now?"

She smiled and nodded as he wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her toward him. "Much better. Thank you for being there for me."

"Where else would I be?" he said softly as he leaned down and gave her a kiss that was so full of love that it caused her to cry again. But this time it was tears of happiness that ran down her cheeks to mingle with the water.

She cried one more time an hour later. After Zoicite had carried her from the shower to their bed where they made slow love to each other, he climbed from the bed to kneel beside it and looked up at her.

"Amy," he began. "This isn't exactly the way I had it planned, but this time seems to be perfect. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, my little ice sprite," he reached into the drawer of his bedside table and pulled out a small, black velvet box.

"Will you marry me?" he asked as he opened the lid to reveal a stunning aquamarine ring set in a delicate band of white gold.

Warm tears gushed from her eyes as she whispered, "Yes! Of course I'll marry you. I'd never marry anyone else." Her eyes widened as he slid the ring onto her finger. Then she fell back onto the bed squealing just like Serena or Mina would. "Oh my god! I'm engaged!"

Darien frowned when he stepped into darkening apartment. He was pretty sure Serena was at home. She had gotten off work a couple of hours before and her car was parked in its spot in the garage. But it was highly unusual for her to let it get dark and not turn on any lights. She wasn't a fan of dark, gloomy rooms.

"Serena," he called out as he tossed his keys on the table in the entry hall. He didn't hear a reply as he walked into the living room and clicked on a lamp. It was so quiet that he could only assume that Rini and DJ were out as well.

"Maybe she went out with the girls," he muttered as he walked into the kitchen for a bottle of water. Then he pulled his cell phone from his pocket to check it again. He never answered his phone while he was busy at work, but Serena always left him a voice mail or a text message if she thought she wouldn't be home when he got there so he wouldn't worry. His phone insisted that he had no missed calls or messages.

Oh well, he had his ways of tracking her down. He leaned against the closed refrigerator as he drank and started reaching out through their bond. He nearly jumped a second later when her presence flared up almost on top of him.

He grinned. So she was home after all. That left two options; either she was in the shower or she was asleep. Because not only did Serena always turn the lights on at dusk, she also always came to greet him with a hug and kiss when he came home.

Sure enough, there was light shining underneath the bedroom door as he walked down the hall. He pushed it open to see that his theories were partially right. Serena's hair was damp, indicating that she had recently taken a shower, and she was on the bed, but she was far from being asleep.

Serena sat in the middle of the large, king-sized bed with a couple of books lying open before her. A cross little frown turned down her lips as she looked at them.

"Hey," Darien said softly as he entered the room and closed the door quietly behind him.

Her head snapped up and a smile replaced the frown. "Oh, hey honey! I didn't hear you come in."

He chuckled as he began pulling off his tie. "That's pretty obvious. So what are you studying so hard? I thought you said you weren't going to touch a book this week since you're on spring break."

She shrugged. "I'm not studying. I'm just looking at some old stuff."

He sat on the side of the bed and saw that what he had mistaken for books were actually photo albums. He grinned at the sight of a picture that showed Serena, Mina, Raye, Lita, and Amy crowded into a booth at the arcade. They were no more than fourteen or fifteen in the picture and were wearing their middle school uniforms as they made funny faces at whoever was taking the picture, probably Andrew.

But the second photo album was the one that caught his attention. This was the one that Serena called her secret book and she usually kept it inside a lockbox to keep it away from people that weren't supposed to see it.

"Reliving the past?" he asked as he turned the album toward him to get a better look at the picture of a young Sailor Moon wearing the blue skirted, red bowed fuku that he hadn't seen in so long standing next to a somewhat scrawnier looking Tuxedo Mask. He almost laughed. How had he ever thought that he was buff at seventeen?

Serena chewed on her bottom lip. "I was looking for something, actually."

He arched a brow. "Looking for what?"

"I'm not entirely sure," she murmured as she turned the book back toward her and flipped the page to a picture that showed the four inner scouts as they posed for the camera. Then she skipped several pages, going almost to the back of the book where the last photo she had added was. In it, Andrew was transformed and was dipping a laughing Sailor Shadow back over his arm.

Then she glanced up with a look of curiosity. "When Tuxedo Mask first met Sailor Moon, what did she look like?"

Darien's brow creased in confusion. "What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just what I said. What did she look like?" Her fingers traced Sailor Shadow's long, dark blonde braid. "I know we all have a glamour that hides our true features from people that don't know about us. When we first met Sailor Shadow and didn't know it was Jess she had brown hair and eyes, making it impossible to tell that it was her. I never would have guessed. Your glamour wasn't quite as heavy. Of course you didn't really need it with the mask and all. But I do remember that your hair was a little lighter and that your eyes were a different shade of blue until I found out who you were. It was subtle, but it enough to throw me off. I was just wondering what other people see when they look at Sailor Moon."

"Oh," Darien muttered. To be honest he hadn't thought about that in a long time. He had known Sailor Moon's identity for so long now that he always pictured her exactly as she was. "Well, your hairstyle was the same. I don't think there's any magic strong enough to hide those meatballs."

Serena giggled and threw a pillow at him.

He grabbed it and then lounged across the foot of the bed. "I guess the best way to put it is that you looked like Queen Serenity. Like I said, your hairstyle stayed the same, and that would have been a dead giveaway to your identity if you had still been blonde, but your hair was silver and your eyes turned lavender. You didn't seem like the type that would bleach your hair on a nightly basis and it would have taken a pretty kick ass pair of contact lenses to alter your eye color like that, so I never suspected that Serena Tsukino was the real Sailor Moon. The other girls were just as hard to figure out. Did you know that Sailor Mars was a blonde when I first saw her?"

Serena burst into laughter and fell over, clutching her stomach. "Oh man! Raye would go ballistic if she knew that people see Sailor Mars as a blonde!"

Darien grabbed her bare foot and tickled it lightly. "So what's with you wanting to know what your glamour looked like? You never asked before."

She sobered up quickly and sat back up. "I was just wondering how easy it could really be for someone to figure out our identities. You know, Sammy claims that he unraveled the mystery years ago."

His expression turned thoughtful. "I guess it's not all that surprising. I always said that he was a sharp kid, even back when I first met him. You used to argue with me and say that he was nothing but a pain in the ass, but I knew he had some brains. It probably was fairly easy for him to put the pieces together."

"And if he could figure it out then other people could too," she muttered, twirling a golden curl around her finger.

Darien frowned at the nervous gesture. "Okay! What gives? Something's got you worked up, and I want to know what it is."

She stared at him for several long moments, like she was trying to figure out the best way to say what was on her mind. Then she just sighed and whispered, "I think my mom knows."

That caught his attention and made him sit up straight. "Knows what? You mean about our alter egos?"

She nodded. "She didn't come right out and say it, but some of the things she said today just screamed that she knew." Then she related the conversation she'd had with Ilene earlier that day.

"So what do you want to do?" Darien asked her when she finished.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Part of me wants to tell her and finally get it off my chest. I mean, it's not like the whole world isn't going to find out eventually anyway. So what does it matter if she finds out a little bit before everyone else? She is my mother after all. But…"

"But?" he prompted gently when she paused.

She lay back with a groan. "If I tell her, then I want to tell her everything. And I don't know how she will take that. I'm scared she'll look at me differently and maybe even feel like I'm not really her daughter anymore when she finds out I'm a reincarnation. It would kill me if that happened, because she is my mother. My soul may have come from another time, but she gave me life. We share the same blood."

Darien sighed and swept the albums out of the way as he scooted around so that he could lay beside her, facing her. "Sweetheart, I don't think there's anything in this universe that could make your mom deny you. She loves you too much. Sure, she may be a little shocked in the beginning, but I just don't see her reacting badly. And if you decide that you want to tell her, then I'll support you. I'll even go with you to talk to her if you want me to."

She rolled over to face him. "You would?"

He reached out and trailed his fingers down her cheek. "Of course I would. You didn't think I'd make you do this alone, did you? Besides, this involves me too."

Serena shot upright. "This involves a lot of people, not just us. I'll need to talk everyone before I make a decision because this isn't just my secret; it's theirs too. They should have a say in this."

"That's true," Darien said as he rolled to his back and put his hands behind his head. "The guys won't care, but who knows with the girls; especially the outer scouts. Hotaru may not want your mom knowing that her son is dating a sailor scout and you're barely on speaking terms with Amara right now after you pulled rank on her the other day."

She waved a hand. "Amara will get over it. I'm just giving her some time to cool down. Once she's let her temper settle all I'll have to do is bat my lashes at her and she'll be flirting with me again in no time."

He chuckled. "You're pure evil sometimes. Did you know that?"

She sighed dramatically and threw a long leg over him so that she was straddling his hips. "I guess that's just the curse of being a woman. I don't normally hear you complaining about that."

"Oh, I'm not complaining," he said huskily as he settled his hands on her thighs. He was very conscious of the fact that his delectable fiancée was wearing nothing but a t-shirt and panties.

There was a slight catch in her throat as she giggled. "Do you think we'll still be like this after we've been married as long as my parents have?"

He pulled her down so that her face was hovering just a few inches above his. "If what our future children have to say is anything to go by, I think we will. Listening to their snide comments makes it sound like we've christened every room in the Crystal Palace."

Serena smiled wickedly. "From what I can remember, that place was huge."

He nodded. "Monstrous."

She closed the gap a little more. "It could be a marathon. Are you sure you're up to the challenge?"

He gave her a cocky grin. "Whatever her majesty wants." Then he pulled her firmly down against him and kissed her deeply.

She immediately moaned into this kiss as his tongue started playing with hers and threaded her fingers into his hair. One of his hands stayed on her thigh while the other slid up her back and under her heavy mass of golden curls to grip the back of her neck.

Just as Serena was calculating how quick she would be able to get Darien out of his clothes, her cell phone rang. She growled as she rolled off of him and reached for it. "Somebody better be dying!"

Her expression changed from furious to perplexed when she looked at the display screen. She answered it quickly. "Ames?"

Darien groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. He had completely about the emotional upheaval that Amy had gone through this afternoon. He had intended to tell Serena about it immediately when he had gotten home, but he'd gotten…distracted.

"Yeah, I'm home," Serena was saying. "Sure! You guys come on by. You know that you and Zoicite are welcome here anytime…Okay! See you in a bit!"

She hung up and turned to Darien with soulful eyes. "Will you take a rain check, my future king?"

He moved his arm to look at her with a grin. "Yeah, this time. You're not off the hook, but I'm sure Amy wouldn't have called you if she didn't need something."

"It was hard to judge her tone, but she sounded pretty wound up about something," she mused. "I guess I'll find out when she gets here. In the meantime, I suppose I better put some clothes on."

Darien forcefully pulled his eyes away from her long, bare legs. "That's probably a good idea. But later…" he trailed off suggestively.

Serena laughed and leaned down to give him a quick kiss. "Definitely later!"

"I'm off, Mina" Artemis said as he jumped off the end of the bed where he had been curled up.

The blonde woman looked up from where she had been perusing a stack of papers while sprawled out on her stomach on the bed. "Okay, Artemis. Tell Luna I said hi."

If the white feline could have blushed, he would have. "All right. I'll see you tomorrow."

Mina giggled. "Honestly! I don't see why you always get so embarrassed. You and Luna have been together longer than any of the rest of us. You even have Serena and Darien beat. So you're going off to see your ladylove; it's no big deal."

"Good night, Mina!" Artemis said firmly as he slipped through a crack in the balcony doors.

Kunzite came into the bedroom just in time to hear the cat's parting words. He chuckled. "Giving Artemis a hard time again, love?"

She wrinkled her nose at him. "I'm not giving him a hard time! I just don't see why he and Luna treat their relationship like it's some kind of national secret. It's not like we don't all know that they are together and how things turn out. I've even met their future daughter for crying out loud!"

Kunzite tugged playfully on a piece of her hair as he walked by the bed toward his desk. "Not everyone wears their heart on their sleeve the way you do, darling. It's not that they are trying to keep their relationship secret; they just prefer to keep things private between them."

Mina scowled at him for pulling her hair, but sat up cross-legged on the bed to watch as he rounded the desk. "Is that your way of saying I'm a blabber-mouth, general?"

He grinned as he sat down in his chair and reached for a folder lying on the desk. "You will never hear those words come out of my mouth. So how is the search for your new employee coming?"

Blue eyes narrowed on him. "You're trying to change the subject." When he merely quirked a brow at her, she sighed and picked up the stack of applications she had been going through. The boutique had been so busy lately that she had decided that she needed to hire a part time person to help out.

"It's fine," she answered him. "I've got one girl that I'm really leaning toward. I think she would fit in well. I'm going to call her tomorrow and ask her to come in so we can talk."

Kunzite turned his attention to the paper in front of him. "That's good. I hope she works out. You don't have anything going on in the morning, do you?"

She thought about it for a minute. "No. I don't usually take appointments on Thursdays so that I can work on my designs. Why?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. Darien called me a little while ago and asked if we could meet up in the morning. He said that he and Serena had something important that they wanted to talk about."

"Oh! Yeah, I'm free," she said as she climbed off the bed and gathered the applications together in a stack. "But what about you? Don't you have a meeting in the morning?"

He shook his head. "It got pushed back until the afternoon, so my morning is clear. That works out great since I wanted to fine tune this proposal anyway. This man is looking for a company to design and build a twenty-story office building for his business and I'm up against some pretty stiff competition. But I really want this deal."

Mina straightened up from where she had bent over to slide the papers into her bag. "Ooo, baby! I love it when you talk business to me. It's such a turn on!" She tried to smile seductively, but ended up smothering a yawn instead.

Kunzite didn't miss this and his gray eyes turned sympathetic. "You look tired, sweetheart. Why don't you go on to bed? I still have some work to do."

Normally she would argue with him, insisting that she wanted to wait on him so that they could go to bed together, but she was exhausted. She had been kept busy and on her feet all day, and the plushy softness of their king sized mattress sounded like heaven. So she wandered into the bathroom where she washed her face and brushed her teeth before slipping into a silky sleep tank and matching shorts in a dark, burnt orange.

She quickly brushed out her long, golden hair and then padded back into the bedroom. She walked over to the desk where Kunzite was studying the important looking documents before him with an intense look of concentration on his face.

Now a lot of people, Raye and Lita especially, loved to say that she was an airheaded, hormone driven blonde that hardly ever thought about anything other than shopping, fashion, and sex. It was all in good fun, and Mina knew that she came off like that most of the time, but everyone was aware that there was a serious side to her as well. She was trustworthy and loyal to her princess and her friends, and she was completely devoted to the man sitting behind the desk. She loved him with her entire heart and soul.

So while the impish, love goddess side of her would definitely not object if he were to grab her and ravish her right there on the polished wood, the more level headed Mina knew that his work was important to him and didn't want to disturb him. Besides, she really was way past tired.

She settled for leaning down and kissing his cheek lightly as she whispered, "Goodnight, my love."

He surprised her by standing up and sweeping her into his arms to carry her to the bed. He smirked at her shocked squeak. "The least I can do is tuck you in."

In seconds he had her nestled into the soft sheets and he leaned down to brush a feather-light kiss over her lips as he clicked off the bedside lamp. Now the only light came from his desk lamp.

"Did you want me to move to the other room?" he asked gently.

She shook her head. "The light doesn't bother me. Just don't stay up too late. Even big time business men need sleep."

He laughed softly and brushed her bangs back to press his lips to her forehead. "Sweet dreams, my goddess."

She giggled faintly as she rolled over and snuggled into her pillow. In this position she had a perfect view of his desk and she watched from under her lashes as he returned to his work. Just looking at him made her heart beat a little bit faster.

She was constantly surrounded by handsome men, but none of them made her feel the way Kunzite did. Darien and Nephrite might be dashing in a dark, mysterious way, and Andrew, Jadeite, and Zoicite had their blonde good looks, but they were nothing compared to her tall, platinum haired, tanned skinned general.

Some people may view them as being an odd couple. He was the firm and quiet type while she was bubbly and vivacious, but it worked. She had wondered in both of her lives what Aphrodite had been thinking when she had made them soul mates. Their personalities were so different. But in a weird kind of way they balanced each other out. He kept her grounded when she needed to be, and she made him loosen up and have fun every now and then. It was the ultimate yin and yang.

She felt like she could lay there all night and never get tired of watching him, but unfortunately her body had other ideas. Her eyelids grew heavy and began to droop. She tried her best to keep them open, but her body's need for rest overpowered her and she drifted off to sleep.

She did come back to a state of semi-awareness two hours later when Kunzite slid into bed beside her and gathered her close to his side. She burrowed into his warmth and murmured, "I love you."

She felt his lips on top of her head and his answering, "I love you too," right before she slipped into a deep sleep.

"Yeah, sure. We'll be there," Nephrite said into his phone. "Okay, catch you later." Then he hung up.

"What was that about?" Lita asked from the stool next to him.

He shrugged. "I'm not really sure. Zoi just said that Darien and Serena were calling a meeting for tomorrow morning and that they really want everyone to be there."

Lita sighed and swirled her straw through the strawberry margarita she was drinking. "Well, at least we got one day away from the madness. I thought we'd get a bit of a reprieve since there are no more time traveling bad guys to deal with at the moment."

Nephrite shook his head. "I don't think it's anything like that. Zoi didn't sound overly concerned. If anything, he sounded really…happy."

They both turned at the sound of the front door to the penthouse opening and they looked through the door of the entertainment room to see four teens walk in.

"Good god! It's as silent as death in here!" Skye grumbled. "Where is everybody?"

"It's nice to see you too, Miss Cheerful. I was wondering when you lot were going to come dragging in. It's almost midnight," Lita drawled.

"So what! That's what time you told us to be back, isn't it?" Skye practically snarled as she spun on her heel and stomped into the kitchen.

Lita's eyes widened. "Whoa! What's eating her? She was fine when she left the restaurant earlier."

"Weeell," Emma said hesitantly. "Poor Skye hasn't exactly had the most pleasant of nights."

"Not the most pleasant of nights! Is that what you call it?" Skye sneered as she came back through the door, now holding a bottle of root beer and a package of Oreo cookies. "I call it hell! It's bad enough watching all of you happy little couples being all cozy together, but what makes it worse is that all of the men in this century are complete pigs!"

"Hey!" Nephrite exclaimed, looking like he was offended.

She rolled her slate blue eyes. "Let me rephrase that. All of the people that have the genetic defect of being male and were born and raised in this particular time era are pigs. Does that soothe your manly ego a little bit?"

He visibly flinched. "Ouch!" Then he turned to Lita. "It's easy to see whose sarcasm she inherited."

"Yeah, yours, smartass!" Lita snapped, sounding amazingly a lot like the enraged teen girl that would one day be born to them.

Oh how badly he wanted to point out this little tidbit of insight! But he also wanted the luxury of being about to sleep in his bed tonight and not be relegated to a night on the couch nursing electrical burns. So he wisely kept his comments to himself and contentedly sipped his beer.

"Whatever! I'm going to go and mope now," Skye grumbled as she headed up the stairs.

Emma chased after her. "I don't see why you're so upset. I warned you to stay away from that guy the moment I saw him looking at you. But nobody ever listens to anything I have to say…"

That caught Nephrite's attention. His head snapped up. "Did some guy hurt her?" he growled at the remaining two teens.

Jayden held his hands up. "No, no! It wasn't anything like that! It was just some guy being a dick, that's all."

A low snarl rumbled in Nephrite's throat and he half rose off of his barstool.

Lita put a restraining hand on his arm. "Calm down, Papa Bear!" Then she turned to Hannah, knowing that she was the most likely source for getting a straight answer. "What exactly happened?"

Hannah scuffed her foot on the floor. "Well a whole group of us decided to go bowling tonight, and I think Skye was feeling a little left out because everyone there was paired off. There were Alex and Emma, DJ and Katie, Rini and Helios, Hotaru and Sammy, and…and Jay and I." She blushed for a moment before continuing. "Anyway, there was this guy checking her out, and eventually he wandered over and began talking to her. They were laughing and getting along fine, and then…well…"

"Dude forgot to mention that he had a girlfriend," Jayden jumped in. "Chick showed up and went ballistic when she saw him buddying up to Skye. Things got really loud and ugly for a few minutes. From what I picked up on, the guy and girlfriend had a fight earlier today that didn't end well. Then the stupid prick pretty much admitted that he had just been using Skye to make her jealous. A bunch of their mutual friends were there and he knew that they would call her the moment they saw him with another girl."

Hannah let out a tiny giggle. "I thought she was going to zap him where he stood there for a moment. There was so much static electricity around her that I felt my hair stand up. Then she just turned around and stormed out."

Lita sighed. "What an asshole! At least she kept a lid on her temper and didn't do anything to blow her cover."

Jayden grinned broadly. "Oh she got him back! Evidently the guy had described his car in detail to her. By the time we caught up to her in the parking lot she had found it. With one well-placed little jolt she fried his entire electrical system. I hope he knows a good mechanic."

Lita felt an insane urge to laugh, but she felt it wouldn't be right to condone such actions. "That's horrible!" she choked out.

"That's brilliant!" Nephrite crowed. "I should have known that she'd come up with some way to get back at him!"

"Nephrite!" Lita hissed, spinning to face him. "This is our daughter destroying someone else's property we're talking about. It's not funny!"

He just grinned. "Come on, Sparky! I've heard some of the stories about you when you were younger. Are you saying that you never did anything like that to get revenge on someone?"

She flushed with guilt because she had indeed taken revenge on a few people over the years, especially back in middle school. And a couple of those had been guys that had mistakenly thought that she would be good for an easy lay. Boy had they been wrong! She had targeted their cars too in those cases. "I…well…that was different."

He smirked at her. "Different how?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Just shut up!"

Hannah felt the rising tension and figured it was a good time to escape. "Well, I'm heading up to bed."

Jayden was right behind her. "Yeah, me too! I'll walk you up."

Silence hung between the couple left behind for a few minutes. Then Nephrite looked up from where he had been fiddling with the label on his beer bottle. "Oh, stop glaring at me like that. You know that you're just as proud of her as I am."

Lita clamped her teeth down hard on her lip to keep from smiling, but after a few seconds she couldn't hold it back anymore. A big grin appeared on her face. "Okay, fine! I'm proud of her! Happy now? But at the same time I'm mortified at myself for feeling that way. As her future parents shouldn't we discourage that kind of behavior?"

He grabbed the stool she was sitting on and pulled it toward him until she was sitting in between his legs. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and propped his chin on her shoulder. "Sweetheart, how else would you expect a child of ours to come out? We're both brash, hot headed, and stubborn. I think I would have been disappointed if she hadn't retaliated in some kind of way."

A giggle bubbled from Lita. "So we'll just blame her bad behavior on her genetics, huh? Sounds like a pretty weak plan to me, but I like it. So were you still interested in a game?" She motioned toward the pool table on the other side of the room.

"I am if you are," he said in a husky voice as he pressed a kiss to her neck.

She shuddered a little, but pulled herself away from him. "So what are the stakes going to be tonight?"

This was an almost nightly ritual between them. Even though Lita had a fantastic manager to help her run the restaurant, she still stuck around to help close several nights a week. Sometimes Nephrite would help if he was able, but on some nights he would be tied up with his own work. So they had started this tradition of sitting at the bar in the recreation room and sharing a drink as they talked about their day. It usually ended with them shooting a game a pool before they went to bed.

They always had a wager of some kind on any game they played. Sometimes it was breakfast in bed or a back massage. Sometimes the bets became more intimate in nature. It just depended on what kind of moods they were in.

"Let's make it winner's choice tonight," Nephrite answered smoothly.

Lita shrugged. "Works for me." She walked over and selected her favorite cue stick before setting up the game.

He followed her lead. "Do you want the honors of breaking?"

She waved a hand. "Nah! Go ahead."

"Okay, you asked for it," he said as he took aim and sent the white cue ball smacking into the triangle of multi-colored balls. Two striped ones went in. "Ooo, looks like I'm stripes. Getting worried yet?"

She snorted. "Please! As if! Now take your shot."

He was able to sink two more before he missed one.

Lita took a moment to study the layout before she chose her target. Her first shot was flawless. Working her way around the table she quickly managed to send four more neatly into pockets before she missed.

"Impressive," he said with a nod. "But now it's my turn."

"Oh, yes! Show me how good you are," she practically purred.

The banter back and forth between them continued on for several minutes, with little innuendoes thrown in here and there just for fun. Finally the 8-ball was the last one left on the table and it was Nephrite's turn.

"I sink this, and I get whatever I want," he said with a grin as he lined up his cue stick. "8-ball, side pocket."

Lita remained silent, but she chose at that moment to bend over and rest her elbows on the railing of the table. She was directly across from Nephrite, and, being a man, his eyes were automatically drawn to the amount of cleavage she was showing. She had undone the top few buttons of the white button down shirt she wore to work in, and when she bent over there was nothing left to the imagination except for what little that lacy scrap she called a bra was hiding.

He was understandably distracted, and that threw his aim off. He shot the 8-ball, but it missed its intended pocket by at least four inches.

"My turn!" Lita said cheerfully and hurried to the end of the table. In order to make this shot she had to bend way over the table. "8-ball, corner pocket."

She almost jumped out of her skin a second later when she felt hands on her hips. She turned to glare over her shoulder. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Nephrite tried to look innocent. "Nothing worse than you did to me. You sabotaged my shot by distracting me, so I'm just returning the favor." Then he leaned over her to whisper in her ear, "It's a good thing that we share this place with so many other people, or I might be tempted to put this table to better use."

A massive tremor shook her. Good grief! She and Nephrite had been together for almost four years now, and it amazed her that he could still turn her on with just a few softly spoken words.

She felt him back away and forced herself to focus. A few seconds later the 8-ball dropped neatly into the corner pocket. She turned with a grin. "I win!"

He returned her grin. "Yes you do. The question is, what do you win?"

She strolled casually over where she replaced her cue stick on the rack, and then she said simply, "I'm going to bed." She walked toward the door.

Nephrite stared at her, mouth agape. This was not what he had been expecting.

Lita stopped when she reached the doorway to smile coyly back at him. "Aren't you coming?"

That was all the invitation he needed. He chased her up the stairs to their rooms where she took him by surprise and tackled him to the bed with a flying leap.

"You don't play fair, general," she growled as she pinned him down.

"Now what kind of fun would that be?" he asked as he lifted his head and kissed her.

"Problem?" Jadeite asked as Raye tossed her cell phone down on the bar.

"I don't think so," she muttered. "At least I don't sense a problem. Serena just said that she and Darien want to meet in the morning. But she didn't sound upset or anything, and I didn't pick up any weird vibes, so I guess everything's okay. I did a fire reading earlier and all was calm."

"Then I'm sure everything's fine," he said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder to give her a squeeze. "Are you ready to get out of here?"

"I'm beyond ready," she groaned.

Blaze had been closed for about an hour now and all of the employees had left after cleaning up. Raye and Jadeite were the last two people there. Most of the lights were off and there was no music playing, giving the club a very different feel from what it had just a short time before.

"Let me get my purse and we can go," Raye mumbled around a yawn as she slid from the stool she was sitting on and headed for her office.

Jadeite walked over to a switch panel and began turning off the rest of the unneeded lights, just leaving the few that they normally left burning on. He was waiting for Raye when she came back out from her office and her put an arm around her waist as they left. He set the security alarm and made sure the door was locked tight. Luckily his car was parked right outside the employee's entrance, and he ushered her toward it.

"Jed, I can walk on my own," Raye protested crankily.

"Just hush!" he scolded lightly as he opened the passenger door for her. "You've had a long day and look dead on your feet. What kind of heartless bastard would I be if I didn't offer you some kind of support?"

Raye slid into the waiting car and waited until he had gotten in on the driver's side before giggling tiredly. "Your sensitive side is showing again."

He winked at her. "It's okay as long as we keep it just between us."

Jadeite had a reputation within their group of friends. He was the practical joker with a lecherous streak running through him. On the other hand he also had an explosive temper when riled and wouldn't think twice about roasting an enemy, especially if they threatened someone close to him.

But there was another side to the golden haired general; a side that he had only revealed to one other person in his life, and that was the raven-haired woman sitting next to him. Underneath all of the attitude and joking, he actually possessed a caring and compassionate soul.

Raye was almost as guilty as he was. She came off as being fiery and bitchy most of the time. Every now and then the love she felt for her friends would show, but for the most part she kept her true nature hidden from the rest of the world.

But almost as if there were an unspoken agreement between them, when they were alone together they let the walls around themselves down and let their true emotions show. Sure, Raye was still snappy sometimes and he still cracked jokes, that was just part of who they were, but they didn't hide anything from each other.

Jadeite started the car and put it in gear. "Just hold on tight, and I'll have you home before you know it."

"As long as you don't drive like a total maniac. I would like to get home in one piece," Raye grumbled as she put on her seatbelt.

He just grinned. His black Ferrari was one of his most prized possessions. She was sleek. She was fast. And she drove like a badass dream. But knowing that Raye didn't like being in the car with him when he really stretched its wings, he drove normally as he pulled out of the parking lot.

A comfortable silence settled between them as he drove. The radio was on, but it was just a hum in the background, until a certain song began playing.

"Oh man! I haven't heard this one in a long time!" Jadeite exclaimed as he turned the volume up just a bit. "Do you remember the first time we danced to this one, Firefly?"

Raye rolled her eyes. "How could I forget? You were manhandling me."

He looked offended. "I was not! I was just trying to make you listen to me. I had just told you that I loved you and had given you a kiss, and you ran from me."

"You mean that you had just yelled at me and forced that kiss on me in front of everyone," she retorted. "Of course I ran. I was upset. Only you would pick a crowded club to suddenly lay everything out on the table."

"It worked, didn't it?" he said smugly. "I chased you outside and caught you. You tried to fight me off, but I wasn't letting go. Then this song began playing."

Raye couldn't help but smile at the memory. "And then you began singing it to me. That took me by surprise. I never knew you had a singing voice. The next thing I knew, we were dancing."

"And we've been together ever since," he said quietly. Then he began softly singing the words.

Raye curled up in her seat and drifted off as she listened to him singing the words to what she called their song. She never felt the car pull to a stop or notice when Jadeite gently lifted her from the car to carry her to the elevator.

He carried her all the way up to their suite in the penthouse and laid her carefully on the bed. Then he made quick work of the clothes she was wearing before tugging one of the large t-shirts she preferred to sleep in over her head and pulling the covers up over her.

He knew his friends would be shocked to know that he had handled a naked woman and hadn't attempted to get frisky with her. Not that he hadn't looked and dreamed; he had. But Raye was special. She was his.

He quickly checked his messages to make sure that nothing work related required his attention. He and the other guys were trying to clench a major deal after all. But all he found was a message from Kunzite passing on the word about the meeting that Darien and Serena had called for the next morning.

He was beginning to feel pretty tired himself as he stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed beside Raye. He couldn't help but feel a spear of male satisfaction shoot through him as she unconsciously moved closer to him to snuggle up to his side.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight, Firefly."

A/N So like I said, no action this time, but there were lots of sweet flufferful (is that even a word?) moments. We've got the teens hanky pankying (I don't think that's a word either…lol), young love is definitely blooming (I thought Jay and Hannah were just too cute together!), the adults are all doing their thing, and Amy and Zoicite are engaged! Now we've just got two more couples that need to make it official! Jadeite and Nephrite better hurry up! Raye and Lita need rings on their fingers too! And let's not forget the romance that's springing up between Trista and Evan! And don't worry about Skye, she and Kyrian will have their moment before all is said and done. I think the only couple I didn't cover in this chapter were Jess and Drew (gasps…how dare I! Hee hee!) I'll make sure to give them a mention in the next chapter, but this chapter was just getting way too long. And if any of you are wondering what song Jadeite was singing to Raye, I'll just let you know that it is coming up in a future chapter of Bad Boys and I don't want to ruin it. So coming up…Serena and Amy deal with curious moms and the Trinity holders get serious. I hope you guys enjoyed the fluff and I'll see you next update! Don't forget to drop me those reviews! I love them! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~