A/N Hey everybody! So…a lot of enthusiastic reviews after the last update. Most people seem to think that Mina and Kunzite eloped. Is that what happened? Well…you'll have to read to find out. I think eloping sounds so romantic. My hubby and I almost eloped, but then we decided that it would hazardous to our health to do that because our moms would kill us…and I really didn't want to die so soon after getting married. So anyway, I don't have a lot to say except that this is a nice long update, so I hope you guys like it. Now let me get out those hugs. BIG HUGS TO:

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Thank you so much! As always you guys are both my biggest inspiration as well as my harshest critics. Just like always, there is a little bit of everything thrown into this chapter, so I hope you all like it.

ENJOY!

The Galactic Trinity

Chapter 35

Secrets Popping Up Like Daisies

Mount Olympus

"Really, darlings," the stunningly beautiful blonde goddess drawled as she stroked lazily through the water. "You two have been so melancholy lately. Perhaps we should get together for a night of fun. There are plenty of young demigods around that I am sure could lift your spirits."

Athena's bright green eyes peeked over the edge of the scroll she was reading. "I'm sure you've let all of them lift your spirits many times, Aphrodite. That has always been your specialty. Don't you ever get tired of having men grunting, heaving, and sweating all over you after all of these centuries?"

Aphrodite's china blue eyes twinkled mischievously. "What can I say? I love to love! And believe me ladies, nothing sounds more like music to my ears than hearing a man's groans of passion and knowing that you are the one that was able to bring him to that state. It's quite intoxicating."

The flame haired Artemis snorted as she floated by on her back. "Yes. Hearing a man in the grips of passion is a wonderful thing, but only if you are on the receiving end. I've had to ban that selfish pig of a brother of mine from my temple just so I can get some sleep at night. I've never cared how many of my handmaidens he screws, or how many times he screws them. But if I have to hear, "Oh! Yes! My lord, Apollo!" screamed one more time, I just might be tempted to go to Zeus and beg him to take mercy on me and turn me mortal just so I can escape it."

Selene and Gaia, who had been sitting at the edge of the bathing pool with their legs in the water, giggled at the description of their partner in crime by his twin sister.

"So they do know how to laugh after all!" Aphrodite exclaimed jubilantly. "I was beginning to worry about you, my sweets!"

The silver haired Selene covered her mouth delicately with her fingers in an attempt to hold back her giggles, but they continued to burst and bubble past her lips.

Artemis moved her arms to float closer to them. Her jade colored eyes narrowed as she scowled. "Am I missing some joke here? I didn't think what I said was all that funny. Actually, I thought I sounded pretty desperate myself. Don't get me wrong; Apollo is my twin, and I love him dearly, but he's such a man-whore!"

Selene waved a hand as she gasped for breath. "I wasn't laughing at your misfortune, Artie. Honestly I wasn't. I just have a hard time figuring out why those silly girls always make such a huge fuss over him. He's such a grouch most of the time."

"Well…he is good looking," Aphrodite said slyly as she climbed the steps out of the pool. Water streamed down her flawless nudity until she used her powers to summon a sheer, golden silk robe onto her body.

Gaia snorted. "Please! Looks are not everything when it comes to a man. I wouldn't let him into my bed if he were the last god on Olympus."

A quiet laugh came from the chaise lounge where Athena was hidden behind her scroll once more. After a moment, the goddess of wisdom set it aside to smile at the Earth goddess. "That wasn't what you told me a few millennia ago. I was under the impression that you were quite enamored with Mr. Sunshine."

"Oh really," Artemis purred as she climbed from the pool as well. A white sheet manifested around her body. "I never heard this before. I thought you hated my brother, Gaia."

Gaia winced. "Hate is a strong word. I prefer to say that I intensely dislike him. He is a vain and pompous egomaniac. And he gets on my nerves. I did have one moment of insanity where I blurted out some nonsense about him, but I didn't mean a word of it. I had been sitting with Dionysus that night and had indulged in a little too much wine."

Athena rolled her eyes. "Of course you did if you were silly enough to take a seat with the god of wine and excess. But my point is that alcohol usually brings the truth from people's lips. I've always wondered though. Have you and Apollo ever, you know…?" The goddess of wisdom arched a questioning brow.

"N-no! Absolutely not!" Gaia sputtered. "Where on Olympus would you get a crazy idea like that?"

Artemis cackled. "Me doth think the goddess protests too much."

Gaia's face burned red. "I swear on Zeus's name that I have never had a sexual interlude with that moron!"

"I don't know," Aphrodite mused. "You two have been spending quite a bit of time together lately." A crease formed between her brows as she then turned her eyes on Selene. "In fact, I've seen the three of you standing around several times with your heads pressed together like you were plotting something. The last time I saw you act like that was when…" Her voice trailed off.

"Exactly!" the moon goddess replied primly.

Athena sat up straight, suddenly looking tense. "It's happening again?"

Gaia nodded. "Yes, but I think he can be destroyed once and for all this time. We have some very capable people on the job."

Artemis sighed. "I sure hope you are right. You thought the same thing last time, and that bastard almost won. Could you imagine what would happen to us if he managed to destroy the Earth?" A shudder rippled through her. "We depend on the beliefs of the mortals to keep us alive and the highest concentration of them are on Earth. The rest of you may have a handful of followers scattered around on some distant planets, but I don't. The only temples built in my honor are on Earth. And if it goes, I go."

"Oh, Artie!" Selene exclaimed, jumping up to embrace the shaken, red-haired goddess. "This is why we haven't said anything about it. We didn't want anybody to be upset. Everything is going to work out fine. You'll see."

"Damn, Zeus!" Athena growled. "If it weren't for that asinine edict of his stating that we can't interfere with events on the mortal plane we could take care of Discord ourselves. I am a goddess of war as well as wisdom."

Gaia shook her head. "Zeus wants the humans to be able to fight their own battles. And as much as I would like to dismember that demon myself, I have to agree with Zeus. No good ever came to the humans when we were free to meddle in their lives. They became petty, spoiled little creatures who thought that they could call on us for their every little need. And then they cursed us when things didn't turn out exactly the way they wanted them to. So the separation from them has been a good thing. Sure there are a few bad apples in every bunch, but overall the human race has grown to be strong."

Artemis giggled shakily. "Well, here's hoping that whichever little humans you have picked out are up to the job. I really have no interest in losing my existence. This also explains why Eris has been running around lately as giddy as a kid in a candy store. I overheard Hades complaining just last night that she has been turning Tartarus into her own personal playground recently. He said that she has been sneaking in to torture the condemned souls and disrupting his entire routine. I always knew that she was crazy."

"What else do you expect from the goddess of discord?" Athena asked with a wave of her hand. "She probably looks on that horrendous entity like a favorite nephew or some such nonsense. What she fails to realize, and is too dimwitted to see, is that though she may relish in the destruction that he causes, her own existence will disappear if he succeeds in destroying the Earth."

Aphrodite sniffed daintily. "It's probably because she stays drunk most of the time. She has been hanging out with Ares, Hermes, Dionysus, and the rest of that drunken crowd lately. And you ladies don't even want to hear the tales I've heard from Eros and Psyche about the orgies that have occurred in that group."

The other four goddesses recoiled, squealing, "Eww!"

Aphrodite giggled as she lay gracefully across a chaise. "But anyway, there is nothing we can do about the humans except let events play out like they will. So what do you ladies say to us having a girls' night at my place? I'll invite Psyche and maybe even persuade Demeter to let Persephone off of her chain for one night."

"Good luck with that!" Selene retorted. "That woman has been as rabid as a watchdog ever since I snuck Seph in to see Hades a while back."

"I'll talk to her," Artemis stated. "I'll convince her to let her daughter have a little fun for a change. If she doesn't, I'll threaten her with my brother. After all, Apollo is also a god of plagues. I bet she wouldn't want to see her beautiful harvests eaten up by locusts or something."

"Nooo…" Gaia moaned. "Please don't make the Earth pay for Demeter's short-sightedness."

Artemis waved a hand. "Fine, Mother Earth! Whatever you say!" Then she turned to Aphrodite excitedly. "You are going to invite some of those demigods you were talking about earlier, aren't you?"

Athena made a sound of irritation. "This coming from the woman who is supposed to be the virgin goddess."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Please! That's just what the humans like to think. I've had many lovers in my time. I just haven't had one in a while. The pickings have been rather slim since we are no longer allowed to go to Earth. And I never get a chance to really check out the men we have floating around here because Zeus watches me like a hawk when we are assembled to make sure that I'm not flirting. It gets quite taxing at times."

"But if we have men there it won't be a girls' night," Athena pointed out.

Selene and Gaia looked at each other and smiled as a round of good-natured bickering broke out between the two goddesses. Silently they agreed that spending an evening with their friends was just what they needed to take their minds off of all of their worries. Neither of them were particularly interested in some of the extracurricular activities that Aphrodite was sure to come up with, but it would be nice to escape the stress for a little while before the big finale.

Tokyo

"Bye, Michelle!" Emma chirped as the last bell of the day rang. She jumped up from the stool where she had been sitting and snagged the girl sitting at the piano by the arm before she'd even had time to get up from the bench.

"Whoa there, Speedy!" Katie exclaimed as she dug her heels in. "What's your rush? I haven't even had a chance to put my sheet music away yet."

Emma tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Well hurry up then! Geez! I've never known you to be a slowpoke before."

"And exactly how much caffeine did you have at lunch?" Jayden muttered as he set the guitar that he had been playing in its stand against the wall.

The golden blonde blew a raspberry at the boy. "I barely had anything at lunch, thank you very much! I was a little busy."

"Yeah! You were too busy trying to get the lowdown on Rini and Skye's personal lives," Katie snickered. "You'll be lucky if either one of them are even speaking to you this afternoon."

"Puh-leeze!" Emma drawled. "You can't sit there and deny that you weren't just as curious about they had been up to as I was. For crying out loud! Neither one of them showed up until third period."

Katie slipped her sheet music into a folder and then slid the folder into her backpack sitting next to her. "I confess that I may have been a little curious, just for curiosity's sake. But I never would have been gutsy enough to question them outright the way you did. It's their business anyway."

Jayden cackled gleefully. "I thought Skye was going to literally hit you when you asked her if she'd found yet if Kyrian measured up."

Katie fixed a mock scowl on her face. "Shame on you, Emma! Just look at what you've done! You have corrupted the mind of an impressionable young boy with all of your perverted talk!"

Emma snorted. "Impressionable young boy, my fanny! Jay was born corrupt! Sometimes I seriously think that he is really my brother and that he and Kyle were switched at birth or something."

"Shh!" both Katie and Jayden shushed her harshly.

Emma clapped a hand over her mouth at her slip up of talking about her little brother. They weren't supposed to talk about the younger children that had stayed behind in Crystal Tokyo. She shot a quick glance at Michelle, but luckily the aqua-haired woman was busy at her desk checking her voicemail and hadn't been paying attention to what they were saying.

"Smooth move, Ex-Lax," Jayden drawled.

Katie shook her head. "It doesn't matter anyway. It's not like they aren't going to find out about the others when they go to the future with us."

"So anyhow," Emma trilled, quickly recovering from her gaffe. "Let's get moving! The others will be waiting on us."

Katie and Jayden stared at the overly exuberant girl for a moment like they thought she was on drugs, and then shared an eye roll between them. Emma might be the next generation scout of love and have the singing voice of an angel, but she was as hyperactive as a Chihuahua on speed. The two of them shrugged and shouldered their backpacks as they prepared to follow her.

"Hold up just a second you three!" Michelle called out to them as she got up from her desk chair, slipping her cell phone into her pocket. "There was something that I wanted to mention to you before you go."

"What is it, Michelle?" Katie asked curiously.

The scout of the seas looked a little hesitant before she replied. "I know that our situation here is…uncertain. These next couple of days may be the last that you spend at this school. But if by some chance you find yourselves back here after our business is taken care of, I wanted you to know about the end of the year talent contest coming up in a couple of weeks. I really think that the three of you would have a shot at winning it, especially if you perform the song that Katie wrote."

Emma and Jayden's eyes were immediately alight with interest.

"It's not that good," Katie grumbled skeptically.

"Nonsense!" Michelle declared with a wave of her hand. "It is a very moving piece with a lot of depth and feeling to it. I am certain that it would rival anything on the current charts if it were to be recorded and released. I just wanted to put a bug in your ear about the show, just in case you happen to be here when the time comes."

"I'll think about it," Katie mumbled. Then she trailed out of the room behind Emma and Jayden with a heavy heart.

On one hand, she was ecstatic that Michelle, the woman who had been both her teacher and her harshest critic her entire life, thought so highly of something that she had created. On the other hand she felt a little dejected because she knew now that her dreams were not going to pan out exactly the way that she had pictured them.

Time moved the same, whether she was in the past or in the future, and she knew that at home it was the exact same date that it was in this time, just in a different year. And that meant that she had missed the date that she'd had circled in red on the calendar on her bedroom wall for well over a year by two days now. It was the date of the Julliard entrance auditions. So unless Sailor Pluto was willing to bend a few rules for her later, if she survived the battle with Discord anyway, she had lost her chance to attend her dream school.

But she hadn't let it get her down too badly. In a strange way, she was even okay with it. She didn't know where any of them would be once all the dust had settled, but she had decided that wherever she was, she wanted it to be by DJ's side. His educational future was still up in the air, but wherever he ended up was where she wanted to be. It didn't matter to her if they both stayed at home in Crystal Tokyo and attended the university there or if he got his chance to attend Harvard. If he went to America she would go with him. There were plenty of colleges where she could take some classes. And if her musical ability was half as good as everyone always said it was, then she would find a way to make it on her own. She didn't need some fancy-shmancy Julliard training to do it! Her mother had turned down several offers to attend some pretty prestigious art institutes so that she could stay in Tokyo with the man that she loved, and she had still become an artist that was fairly well known worldwide. And if Jessica Alexander Furuhata could do it, then so could she!

Her spirits had lifted considerably by the time she had reached her locker, and she smiled and hummed a few bars from her song under her breath as she dialed in her combination. She felt even giddier as she realized that none of her teachers had assigned any homework for tonight. There were no tests or quizzes looming on the horizon either, which meant that she didn't have to lug any of her books home. She gratefully unloaded all of her textbooks from her bag, leaving in only the folder with her music in it and the now two large, ragged, spiral bound notebooks that were full of her scribblings. Yep! It was a light load today.

Of course, she felt his presence several seconds before a hot breath blew past her ear and a husky voice chuckled, "Somebody seems to be in a good mood."

She turned with a smile, and immediately felt herself get sucked into her boyfriend's soft blue eyes. "I am in a good mood. I had a very nice afternoon session with Michelle, Emma, and Jayden. How were your classes?"

DJ placed a hand on either side of her head, against the lockers, caging her in. "Mostly review, just like in our morning classes. We've completed everything in the courses, so now it's just a matter of getting ready for exams. We'll still have to take them, whether we're here or at home. Personally, I'd rather take the tests here. I'd definitely feel better prepared for the ones here. Anything Amy and Zoicite come up with is bound to be ten times harder."

Katie nodded. "I would be nice to finish school here and have a real graduation, wouldn't it? You know, to have another one of those normal teenage things to add to the list before we become full-fledged adults. It just seems so much more momentous than having Amy hand us a diploma and sending us on our way."

"Yes it does," he agreed with a quiet laugh. Then his expression turned serious. "Speaking of becoming adults, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about. I've been doing some thinking, and I've decided that I don't have to go to Harvard. There are plenty of other medical schools, good schools too. Take Columbia for example. It's in New York, just like Julliard. I could apply there. And if I get accepted maybe we can rent a little apartment somewhere and live together while we both go to school. What do you think?"

Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to let them show. She couldn't believe that he was willing to give up Harvard for her! It was his biggest dream! Ever since he had first started considering medicine as a possible career he had been hooked on his dad's stories about the time that he had spent going to school there and hoping that he could experience the same. And now he was talking about throwing it all away…just for her! She didn't think that she had ever loved him more than in that moment.

She thought briefly about telling him that he didn't have to give it up because she had missed her audition, but she knew that it would upset him. Instead she just raised a hand to his cheek and smiled. "Let's talk about it later, after everything else is done. Okay?"

He nodded. "Okay." Then he sighed. "I'm probably jumping the gun anyway. I'll probably end up at staying at home studying political science anyway while you take off to go halfway around the world."

"We'll cross that bridge when it comes," she told him firmly but gently. "And whatever happens, we'll deal with it."

He gave her his signature smirk. "When did you become the rational one in this relationship?"

"I have my moments," she quipped back lightly.

The locker next to her shuddered, and she looked to see that Rini was slouched beside her.

"Okay!" the pink haired princess growled darkly. "I want to know who slipped the drugs into Emma's coke at lunch so I can murder them, because she's definitely acting like she's high on something! I could barely make it to my locker before she started screeching at me to hurry up. What has she got up her sleeve that's so damn important?"

"Watch your language, Miss Tsukino, or I'll have to give you detention!" Miss Haruna warned her as she walked by.

Rini sulked quietly for a moment before sticking her tongue out at the auburn haired teacher's retreating back. "No wonder Serena always despised her when she had her. I used to think that she was exaggerating because Haruna always slapped her with detention for being late or sleeping and eating in class. Now I see that she really is Satan incarnate! But seriously, what is Emma's problem?"

Katie shrugged. "I don't have a clue. But she has been acting crazier than usual all day. She tried to drag me out of class almost before the bell rang."

"What is that stupid blonde's damage?" an infuriated voice demanded suddenly.

The crowd in the hall parted to make way for the seething Skye as she stalked toward her friends. The slightly amused looking duo of Jayden and Hannah trailed along behind her.

"Goddess of love, my ass! I swear she's the goddess of insanity instead!" she snarled under her breath as she reached them. "I'm seriously starting to believe that there was more than just coke in that can she was drinking out of at lunch."

"That's what I said too," Rini grumbled.

Skye's hard, slate blue eyes pinned her in place. "And you! How could you just sneak off and abandon me the way you did when she ambushed us coming out of the Home Ec room?"

Rini actually looked a little intimidated. "Um…I have the right to remain silent?"

Skye's scowl intensified. "We're in Japan, not America! That line won't work here."

"I'm sorry, okay!" Rini exclaimed. "I saw Emma headed our way and I panicked. She was practically foaming at the mouth like she had chomped on an Alka-Seltzer or something and I was afraid that she was going to start her interrogations again like she did during lunch. There was a break in the crowd, so I took it. It didn't matter anyway. She still caught me at my locker. But I don't know what's wrong with her though."

Katie giggled. "I don't think it has anything to do with either of you. She's been acting more rabid than usual all day, even before you two showed up. She blew through the front gates this morning and almost mauled poor Alex on the spot."

Hannah's blue head bobbed rapidly. "That's true. She did. I've been thinking it over, and the only conclusion that I can come up with is that maybe she saw a couple fall in love during our walk to school this morning. I don't remember seeing anything except the normal hustle and bustle of business people and students hurrying to get to where they needed to go. But then again, she can see things that we can't."

Jayden shook his head slowly. "No, I don't think that's it. She was acting a little goofy before we ever even left out this morning. When I walked into the kitchen she was in there, dancing around and singing into her orange juice. But since she always acts a little odd I didn't think much of it. Then she whirled over to me, patted me on the head like I was a dog, and started blabbing a hundred miles an hour about what a beautiful day it was. Honestly, it kinda creeped me out a little."

DJ muffled a snort of laughter in Katie's ponytail. "Well don't look now, but here she comes. Everybody get ready."

Emma came rushing up to them, clinging tightly to Alex's hand as she pulled him behind her. Her already bright gray eyes almost began to glitter when she saw all of her friends together. "Great! You're all here! Now does everybody have their things so we can get out of here? I'm ready to blow this place!"

"What is your hurry, Barbie?" Skye muttered. "We're just going to the arcade like we normally do. I don't think it's going anywhere."

Emma shrugged. "I just feel like getting there soon. I'm really, really craving a milkshake right now."

"I think more sugar is the last thing you need," Rini sneered.

But Katie grew concerned as she studied her friend. After taking in the more hyper than usual blonde's feverishly burning eyes and extremely flushed cheeks, she shrugged out of DJ's arms to walk over and place a hand on her brother's girlfriend's forehead. It was warm, but not hot.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked her as she cupped Emma's face between her palms. "I swear you look feverish. Are you coming down with something?"

Emma pulled her face away with a laugh. "No, silly! I feel great! Better than great actually. Life is good!"

"Hmm…" Hannah mused from where she had partially hidden behind Jayden so that she could slip her mini-computer from her pocket and scan the blonde. She frowned at the conflicting readings. "This is odd. There are no signs of a virus, and her white blood cell count is normal, so that rules out infections. But her pulse, respiration, and body temperature are all slightly elevated."

Skye leaned over and whispered evilly to Rini, " Maybe Miss Aphrodite-Complex is giving a new meaning to the term a bitch in heat." They both cackled in amusement.

"I heard that!" Emma snapped. And from the looks of at least Katie and Hannah's madly blushing faces, she wasn't the only one that had. Luckily, the guys still wore normal expressions. So they must have missed the rude comment.

Emma's face became irate looking. "Look, this has absolutely nothing to do with me personally." Her eyes swung back and forth between Skye and Jayden. "Have either of you consulted a calendar today? Do you even know what day it is?"

Jayden's brow creased in concentration for a moment. "Uh, it's like May 7th, right?"

"Yeesss," Emma drawled like she was waiting for a more complete answer. When Skye and Jayden merely looked at each other and shrugged, she threw her hands up in the air. "Am I the only one that sees things clearly around here?"

Everyone exchanged confused looks. Katie and DJ looked to Alex, who had been standing quietly behind his ranting girlfriend. 'I have no idea what she's talking about,' he told them in their silent way. Then they looked to each other. The month of May meant nothing to either of them except for DJ's birthday. But that was still a good two and a half weeks away.

Everybody looked around, sharing shrugs and "What the hell is she smoking?" looks.

After a minute, Emma sighed in defeat and murmured, "Never mind. You guys will find out later. Let's go." Then she turned and trudged toward the exit with much less enthusiasm than she had shown a few minutes before.

Alex hung back for a moment to ask Hannah, "Are you sure her scans came back fine?"

The younger girl looked slightly offended that he questioned her, and her voice was brisk as she answered, "I scanned her using mom's program. And it said that she's fine."

Alex nodded. He ran that program on his own mini-computer, and he knew that it was so sensitive that it could pick up on something as minor as a hangnail. "Okay. I was just double checking. I just wish I knew what has her so worked up. Whatever it is, she's keeping it under pretty tight wraps, because I'm not getting anything from her. And it's frustrating the hell out of me." He shoved an agitated hand through his light brown hair as he spun to go after his girlfriend.

DJ and Katie looked at each other and shrugged before they followed him. Jayden and Hannah trailed quietly after them.

Skye arched a brow at Rini. "Who the hell needs soap operas around here? I feel like we're living one every single day."

"True," Rini agreed. Then she grinned. "So now that all the eager ears are gone, how are things progressing with Kyrian?"

The auburn haired girl's face exploded in a bright red blush. "Oh…um…things are…fine."

Rini snickered. "Better than fine I'd say by the look on your face."

Skye slapped her hands to her burning cheeks and wailed, "Riinniii!"

The young princess just laughed and took her by the arm. "I always knew that you were a fake. Underneath all your brash bravado, flirting, and tossing out sexual innuendoes, you're just an innocent little marshmallow. Now let's get going so we can see how the rest of the day's drama pans out."

Darien finished scribbling on the prescription pad and ripped off the top sheet before handing it to the anxious looking woman sitting in the chair in the examination room, who was holding a teary-eyed four-year-old boy on her lap.

"Okay," he told her kindly. "This is a prescription for Amoxicillin. That should clear up the ear infection with no problem. I want him to take it three times a day for ten days. The pain should disappear completely within a few days, but don't stop giving it to him. Make sure he takes all of it. And continue to give him Tylenol or Ibuprofen for the fever until it goes away. That should also help with his pain until the antibiotic kicks in."

The young mother smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much, Dr. Shields, for squeezing us in like this. I have been at my wits end since last night. He's had a runny nose and a little cough for a couple of days, so I thought that he had just picked up a bug from school or something. But then last night he started crying about his ear hurting around bedtime. Needless to say, neither my husband nor I got much sleep last night. Then I almost died this morning when I called your office and they said that you were booked solid for the day. But Nora, bless her heart, said that you might be able to slip us in at the end of the day so that we wouldn't have to wait for tomorrow."

Darien chuckled. "It was no problem. I was glad to do it. The sooner we get him started on the medicine the better." Then he ruffled the brown hair of his little patient. "Okay, Cody! You get to feeling better, all right. And don't give your mom a hard time about taking the medicine. That is what will make the earache go away."

The little boy turned his face from his mother's chest to look up at his doctor with large, glassy brown eyes. One tiny hand held his ear while his other was at his mouth with his thumb between his lips. He pulled the thumb from his mouth before whispering tremulously, "Will the med'cine taste bad?"

A laugh rumbled in Darien's throat. "No. At least I don't think it tastes bad. Do you like bubblegum?"

The brown head nodded.

Darien grinned. "Well that's what this medicine tastes a lot like. It's almost like drinking candy. And speaking of candy…" He reached into the pocket of his white lab coat and pulled out a handful of suckers that he kept for his younger patients. "Why don't you pick out one for being such a brave boy today."

Cody's eyes widened for a moment as he stared at the colorfully wrapped suckers. After a few seconds of contemplation, he chose a red one and stuck it in his pants pocket. "Thank you, Dr. Shields."

"Any time, buddy!" Darien replied as he stood from the stool he'd been leaning against and closed the file folder he was holding.

The mother set the boy on his feet and gathered up her purse as they followed him out into the hall and toward the reception desk where he handed the file to Nora, his receptionist.

"Give me a call if he seems like he's getting any worse," he told the mother. "And keep your eyes open for any signs that he's having any allergic reactions to the medication." He saw the main door leading into the reception area open in his peripheral vision, but he ignored it to continue talking about his patient's well being. "He should be fine though since I prescribed this for him once before about a year ago and he had no reaction. But it always pays to be safe."

Suddenly, Cody ripped his hand from his mother's and began running across the room, squealing, "Miss Serena!"

Darien jerked his head around to see that it was indeed his fiancée that had entered a few moments before.

Serena dropped to her knees and opened her arms as the little boy barreled into her. She hugged him tightly as she gushed, "Oh, Cody, sweetie! I was wondering where you were when you weren't at school today. Did you catch that nasty little bug that has been going around?"

"I gotta ear 'fection," the boy told her solemnly. Then he grinned. "But Dr. Shields gave me some med'cine to make it go away. And look what else he gave me." He pulled the red sucker from his pocket with a flourish.

"Nice!" Serena complimented him on his acquisition.

"Miss Tsukino, what a surprise to see you here of all places," Cody's mother said with a smile. "You haven't gotten sick from being around all those children, have you?"

Cody's eyes immediately filled with tears. "Being around us made you sick, Miss Serena?"

"Oh no, sweetie! I'm not sick!" Serena immediately reassured her tiny student. "Remember when I told you kids that I was going to marry a doctor? Well Dr. Shields is the doctor that I'm marrying."

"Ohhh!" he said in comprehension. And everything was right in his little world once more.

"Well what a small world!" Cody's mom laughed. "I knew that both of you were engaged, but I never would have guessed that it was to each other, especially in a city this size."

Darien chuckled. "It's funny how things work out sometimes, isn't it?"

They talked for a few more minutes before bidding mother and son goodbye and saying goodnight to Nora, who was preparing to leave for the evening. Then they headed down the hall toward Darien's office, passing the closed door to Zoicite's on the way. The other doctor had seen his last patient and left an hour ago.

Serena whirled on Darien the second that they were inside his office with the door closed. "Okay! I heard you earlier, but I was kind of busy at the time. I think I heard you right though. You finally tracked them down?"

He nodded as he removed the stethoscope from around his neck and hung it up along with the lab coat he'd shrugged out of. "I guess you could say that. After hours of constantly calling in between patients, Kunzite finally answered his phone."

"Thank goodness!" she sighed in relief and leaned against the edge of his desk. "And he said that they were okay?"

He yanked at his already loosened tie, loosening it even more. "Not exactly in those words. He sounded really pissed actually. He assured me that they were both still alive and that they had just wanted to get away by themselves for a little while."

Serena sniffed haughtily. "Oh, that's all well and good for them to disappear without a word to anyone just because they felt like it! If you and I did something like that we would never hear the end of it. It's such a double standard! Do you know that Mina insisted on me giving her all the information on the place that we are going to for our honeymoon after I booked the trip?"

He smirked at her. "And did you?"

She tossed her head. "She thinks that I did, but I didn't. I gave her the name, address, and phone number for a resort that isn't even on the same island we will be going to. She claims that she only wants to know in case there is an emergency, but I know what she's up to and I don't want to spied on while we are on our honeymoon."

He walked up to her and looped his arms loosely around her. "I completely agree. But giving them bogus information won't stop them. If we want to be left completely alone we're going to have to take more drastic measures."

She tilted her head back to look up at him. "Like what?"

He tapped the tip of her nose with a finger. "Well first off, we'll have to cloak our auras and our crystals' energy signatures. Amy will be able to track us in a second if we don't. It would also be a good idea to leave our phones at home and just pick up a cheap prepaid one in case there is an emergency. Then we make sure to not use any credit or debit cards on our trip so they can't trace us that way. We can get one of those prepaid credit cards."

"Wouldn't it just be easier to threaten all of them with long, slow deaths if they follow us?" she huffed.

He shrugged. "We could. But do you think that they would actually listen?"

"Probably not," she grumbled. "We could order them to leave us alone. But I really don't want to do that. I don't like the idea of forcing my will on others just because of my position."

"It wouldn't matter anyway," he told her. "Kunzite and Mina still retain the right to overrule any order we give if they think that it's in the best interest of our safety. So if we want to ensure that we have some privacy we're going to have to go about this the sneaky way."

She looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You've already been planning this out, haven't you?"

He flashed his lopsided grin at her. "Just a little bit. I figured that it would come up at some point, so I thought it best to go ahead and have some of the details lined out. I know that at some time in our lives we'll reach the point where it will probably be nearly impossible for us to go away somewhere completely alone together. But that time hasn't arrived yet. This is going to be the start of our married life, and I want to do it right. I want it to be just you and me alone together on some private beach and drinking some kind of fruity, frozen, tropical drink. And if we decide to get freaky, throw off our clothes, and roll around in the sand, I want to be able to do that and be assured that we're not the subjects of voyeurism."

"I like the way your dirty little mind thinks," she purred as she pressed a little closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "If we manage to pull this off it will definitely be a honeymoon to remember."

"I think we owe it to ourselves," he told her in a husky tone. "After all, we have saved the world multiple times. And besides, we got screwed out of having a honeymoon the first go around. Staying in Elysian for a few days after sneaking off to get married in a secret ceremony that only a handful of people knew about doesn't exactly match the traditional definition of a honeymoon."

Serena stared up at him for several long moments, her lower lip slowly poking out a few degrees per second until a full-blown pout was on her face. Then she pushed him back a few steps, a little forcefully, and stomped to the other side of the room to put some distance between them.

"What?" he asked in bewilderment.

She spun around to face him, her eyes snapping angrily. "I can't believe you even have to ask that! I happen to have loved our first honeymoon. True, we may not have gone anyplace exotic, but we were together, and I would never trade a moment of that time."

Darien couldn't help but grin as her words stirred up memories from another lifetime. And he had to admit that she had a point. While his past self and his young secret bride hadn't been able to take the traditional wedding tour, as had been customary in those times, they had still had a beautiful start to their marriage. It had been the first time that Serenity had visited Elysian, and Endymion had enjoyed taking her around the land of dreams and showing her the sights.

That trip hadn't been all fun and games though. He still remembered his surprise and delight when he had discovered that, despite her innocence, his princess had harbored a furiously passionate nature buried deep inside. The moment their lips had met at the end of their wedding ceremony in the most intense kiss they had ever shared, he'd begun to wonder how in the world he had been able to keep his hands off of her up until that point. He'd been sorely tempted to sweep her up into his arms right then and carry her off to his room, but her mother, his parents, and both of their guards had been there. And such an action would have been highly inappropriate. So he'd patiently waited, playing the part of the attentive groom throughout the small dinner and reception that they'd had with those in attendance. But that night…

A hand waved in front of his face, jerking him back to the present. He blinked to find a still slightly disgruntled looking Serena standing in front of him. But her eyes were curious as she asked, "What were you thinking about? You looked like you were a thousand miles away."

He smiled goofily at her. "Nope! Just a thousand years away. I was remembering our wedding night."

A blush immediately flooded her cheeks with pink and she stammered, "O-oh!" Then she giggled shakily. "I was so nervous that night. I wasn't completely naïve. I knew how things were supposed to go. And I was perfectly calm and collected until Minako started handing out her helpful advice. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown after that. The other girls weren't much help either since they kept chiming in with their ideas as well. Even Ami wasn't immune once she'd had a couple of glasses of wine."

He chuckled as he put his arms around her waist and tugged her to him. "The guys were just as bad with me. Of course Jed and Neph were the worst. Do you know that those two knuckleheads actually tried to drag me into a brothel a few days before the wedding?"

Serena's eyes widened. "You never told me that."

He nodded. "Yep! They thought that I might benefit from having one experience before our wedding night so that I would halfway know what I was doing. They snuck into my room, ambushed me, tied me up, and dragged me to the nearby village. I was afraid that I was going to have to seriously hurt the two of them in order to get away, but luckily Kunz and Zoi figured out what they were up to and came after us."

A hysterical laugh bubbled past Serena's lips. "And I thought what the girls did to me was bad! Two nights before the wedding, Minako and Rei snuck these two; well I guess nowadays that we would call them male exotic dancers, into the castle. One of them was from Venus and the other from Mars. They burst into my sitting room and began, um…putting on their show. I was in shock the entire time."

Now it was Darien's turn to be surprised. "They got you strippers?"

She nodded. "Yeah. They had lied to the guys and told them that it was a late birthday present for me. Luckily they didn't stay long. Makoto said that I looked like I was going to pass out, so she herded them out of there. I had never been so embarrassed in my life."

Darien shook his head. "Well, at least this time it won't be as bad since we've done things a little backwards. We're older and not as innocent as we were before. I'm sure they'll still find ways to mess with us, but at least we'll be better prepared to handle it. And I meant what I said before. I'm willing to take whatever steps are necessary to make sure that we can enjoy our honeymoon in peace and quiet. I don't want our friends hanging all over us like they did when we were in Elysian."

An impish smile turned up Serena's lips. "They weren't with us all the time. After all, we were in Elysian so they knew we were safe. In fact, I seem to remember quite a few times that they left us alone. At least they left us alone enough that I was able to walk away from those days with something special."

His eyebrows rose. "What do you mean?"

She huffed a quiet laugh. "You do the math, my dear doctor. Melody was born in April, almost exactly nine months to the day after our wedding. What does that tell you?"

"That we got lucky on the first try," he quipped back as he leaned down to brush a kiss across her lips. "But we don't want a repeat of that this time."

She shook her head. "Definitely not. My birth control pills will be the first thing that I pack to take with us. Trista would have our heads on a platter if we messed up the timeline." Then she glanced at the clock and saw that the time was swiftly approaching evening. "So what is this get together that Raye is wanting to have tonight all about. She left me a voicemail earlier, but she didn't say much. She just told me to come to the club tonight and that if I didn't show that she would never forgive me."

Darien shrugged. "I have no clue. Jed called to see if I was free tonight, and then invited me. But he didn't give me any particulars. He seemed really jazzed up about something though. If I had to guess, I'd say that he finally proposed to Raye and that she said yes."

Serena nodded. "That makes sense. And it's about time too. I was expecting them to be engaged long before this. Now we just need Lita and Neph to make things official and everyone will be on the engagement train, at least until Jess and Drew start the marriage rodeo in a couple of months. Are Mina and Kunzite coming tonight?"

"Kunzite said they would be there," he told her.

"Good! I can't wait to give both of them a piece of my mind," she grumbled. "I don't really mind that they wanted to get away for a while. I actually think that it's very sweet. Kunzite can be a bit of a stuffed shirt sometimes, so I think it's nice that he whisked Mina off for some alone time. But still, I know that they would give us the third degree if we did something like that. Which reminds me, why didn't Amy just use the Mercury computer to track them down?"

Darien kissed the tip of her nose and then moved around her to start gathering up his briefcase and other things that he intended to take home with him. "Because she was here most of the day doing observations and she doesn't bring her computer here. We discovered that whatever frequency it runs on interferes with some of the medical equipment, so she leaves it at home. She doesn't like doing it, but the patients' health comes first. By the time she left I had already spoken to Kunzite."

"Oh! That makes sense," she replied. "So are you about ready to get out of here? I still need to go home and change before we meet up with everyone. And I hope that food is included in this little pow-wow, because I am starving!"

"Spoken like a true Meatball Head," Darien joked.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Don't start being a jerk!" She spun and stomped to the door, flinging it open and disappearing into the hall.

Darien laughed quietly to himself as he followed her.

"No way!" Lita and Raye squealed together at the same time as they stared in surprise at the rings on each other's fingers. After a few seconds of gaping they grabbed one another up in a tight hug and began jumping up and down.

Nephrite shook his head at the duo and slid over to where Jadeite was leaning against the fender of his car. "Very nicely played," he murmured to the blonde.

Jadeite grinned at him. "You too. I guess this means we'll be washing our own cars, huh?"

Nephrite snorted. "I always knew that you would pull through. I was just trying to give us both the incentive to get up off of our asses and stop dragging our feet."

"Well, it worked," Jadeite agreed as he watched his new fiancée, that word still gave him the tingles, wipe a few stray tears from her eyes.

She hadn't intended to tell anyone of their engagement until later at the club. But when they had run into Lita and Nephrite in the parking garage when they had come home, and Lita had apologetically declined the invitation for tonight, Raye had blurted out the news to her. Lita had astonished her by showing off her hand that was now sporting an emerald ring and announcing that she was engaged too.

"Now you have to come tonight," Raye said as she pulled away from her friend. "Can't you just picture the look on Meatball Head Serena's face if we drop a double whammy on her like this. It will be epic!"

Lita giggled. "Not to mention what this news will do to Mina. She thinks she's such a know it all love goddess, but this slipped right past her radar. You better believe I'm in. Besides, I'm curious as to where she and Kunzite have been keeping themselves all day."

Raye let out a contemptible snort. "Knowing those two sadist, they've probably been locked up in some den of perversion somewhere practicing some strange bondage rituals or something. I'm sure Mina will be sure to fill us in on it and probably give us more details than we care to hear."

Jadeite snickered. "Careful who you're calling a sadist, sweetheart. I happen to know that you have a pretty freaky side yourself."

She growled at him, "You better watch your step. It's not too late for me to take this ring off and throw it at your head!"

He held his hands up in surrender. "I was just saying…"

"Well keep it to yourself!" she snapped. Then she turned back to Lita. "Do you think you could get your guys over at the restaurant to whip us up a little spread? If not, I'm just going to order in a bunch of pizzas from somewhere."

"I'm already on it," Lita reassured her as she whipped her cell phone from her pocket and began dialing. A few seconds later she was squealing to her manager, "Mary! You won't believe what's happened…"

Nephrite arched a brow at Jadeite. "I don't know whether or not this is a premonition, but I've got the feeling that this is going to be a really long night."

Jadeite shot a glance at Raye, who was studying her ruby with a look of supreme satisfaction on her face, and he grinned. "I think you might be right. But it will be one hell of a ride."

"Ready or not! Here I come!" the little girl called as she finished counting and lifted her head from where she'd had it buried in her folded arms against one of the statues that stood in the gardens of the moon castle. She looked around for a moment before skipping off down one of the paths. The frilly skirt of the pale yellow dress that her mother had chosen for her that morning swished around her knees as she went.

"Toki! Where are you?" she sing-songed as she made her way merrily along. "I'm going to get you!"

Leaves rustled nearby, but she wasn't sure from where. And then she heard a laugh, followed by a voice saying, "You'll have to find me first."

"Oh, I'll find you," stated boldly. "And when I do it will be your turn to be it."

The voice came from a different direction this time. "Only if you catch me before I make it back to base."

Her jaw clenched in determination. "I can catch you!"

He laughed again. "Not with those short legs of yours. I'm older, bigger, and stronger than you are."

"I don't think so," she muttered under her breath, but she had been following his voice. It sounded like he was staying hidden in the bushes and trying to circle around her so that he could make a mad dash back to the statue that was their base.

She backtracked a little ways, keeping her ears open for the slightest sound. When the bushes to her right rustled just the tiniest bit, she burst through them, squealing, "I've got you now!"

The sandy blonde boy crouched behind the bushes shot her a startled look before jumping to his feet with a short yelp and taking off running like his life depended on it.

She shot after him like a bullet, her golden curls streaming behind her as she pumped every bit of speed she could into her legs. The distance between them slowly began to close.

He tossed a look over his shoulder at her. "Ha! I told you that you wouldn't be able to catch me, Melly!"

His taunt infuriated her, and she forced her already burning legs to move even faster. The rows of bushes and hedges around her were a blur. The next thing she knew, she was right on him, and she reached out to tag him on the shoulder. "You're it!"

He spun around to face her, and there was a flash of light. When it faded, she was surprised to find that they were now adults. She was in her princess form, complete with the long, royal blue gown and its streamers of silver and gold ribbons that cascaded from her waist. A warm spot on her forehead told her that her moon and rose symbol had appeared as well.

He looked magnificent in his solarian officer's uniform. The bronze armor glowed with a highly polished shine and the dark blue underlining of his long, sweeping cape contrasted beautifully with the top layer of copper colored material. His messy, sandy blonde hair fell over his hazel eyes as he smirked at her.

He suddenly pulled her into his arms and growled, "No. You're it, princess!" Then he bent her back over his arm as he gave a kiss so intense that she felt her toes curl up inside her slippers.

She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him back with reckless abandon.

When they were both almost faint from the lack of air, he pulled away from her lips, but only to kiss his way down her neck to her chest. He was hovering right above the swells of her breasts that were visible over the low neckline of her gown when she felt him sigh against her skin.

"God, please tell me that you are awake, Jess. Because I don't want to be accused of taking advantage of you while you're sleeping."

Her eyes popped open and she found herself lying on the sofa in Andrew's office and feeling a little fuzzy about how she'd gotten there. Then her brain finally caught up and she began to remember. She'd come to Andrew's office to visit for a minute after her morning class and he'd offered her lunch. She'd sat down on the sofa to wait for him while he'd run downstairs to grab them some food…and that was all she remembered.

Her lips felt tingly, like she had just been kissed, and her body felt weighted down. Just about the time that she realized that the fingers of one hand were buried in something soft, she felt a hot rush of air brush her chest.

She looked down and saw Andrew's sandy blonde head at eye level with her chest, and the sight made her giggle. "Well, well, isn't this a pleasant way to wake up."

His head popped up and he looked slightly guilty, like a little boy that had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar just before dinner. But he covered it with a roguish grin. "It looks like the fairytales are true. Sleeping Beauty can be kissed awake."

She arched a brow at him. "It seems to me that you might have something more in mind than just kissing a sleeping princess awake."

"I was just trying to get your attention," he quipped as he moved up her body so that their faces were even with each other.

Jess bit her lip to hold back a moan as his weight settled more firmly against her. Heat flooded her body, making her nerve endings crackle in awareness. She'd heard people talk before about how the newness and the excitement in a relationship usually simmered down after being with someone for about a year or so. But after two years of being with Andrew she could honestly say that he still made her burn just as hot as he had in the beginning of their relationship. Okay…maybe even hotter. It seemed that every time she thought that she couldn't possibly love him any more than she already did, her heart would take another plummeting plunge.

"Well, you certainly got my attention," she replied in a slightly breathless voice. Then, noticing that the light in the office was much dimmer than it had been before she'd fallen asleep, she asked, "How long have I been out?"

He gently brushed her bangs back from her forehead. "You've been dead to the world all afternoon. You didn't even twitch a muscle when the kids came in here after school, and they weren't exactly quiet. It actually concerned me a little bit because normally you wake up if the wind blows."

She wrinkled her nose up at him. "I guess I was just more tired than usual. I had a full, busy day and night in Elysian while everybody else slept here."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed. "I guess it wouldn't do any good for me to get down on my knees and beg you to stop doing this to yourself, would it?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "It won't be for much longer though. I've pretty much reached the limits of my comfort zone anyway, and I'm scared if I go any further that it could be disastrous. Besides, I'll need to rest and build my energy back up before Trista comes for us this weekend. If I'm going to face this, then I'm going in at my best."

A small chuckle rumbled from Andrew. "You're always so stubborn."

"And you love me for it," she joked back. Then she giggled as she remembered the dream she'd had just before she woke up.

He grinned down at her. "What's so funny?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing really. I was just thinking about this dream I just had. It made me think about how stubborn I really am."

"Care to share?" he asked curiously.

"Sure, why not," she answered with a shrug. "I guess it was more like a memory than a dream. It was about you and me in the past. We were playing hide and seek in the castle garden and it was my turn to be it. So I counted while you hid. Then when I went looking for you, you kept moving around your hiding spot and teasing me that I wouldn't be able to catch you. But I did find you, and then I chased you down until I tagged you, despite the fact that you kept insisting that I wouldn't be able to." She blushed slightly as she remembered the erotic turn the dream had taken after that.

But Andrew didn't notice. He groaned and leaned his forehead against her shoulder. "I don't know why I always did that. You always managed to catch me in the end. I think it was because I was confused because I couldn't figure out how this tiny little girl, who was of mixed blood no less, could catch me when I was clearly bigger, older, stronger, and full blooded Solarian. It was always a mystery to me. Of course now I know that it was because you are special."

She turned her face away, embarrassed. "I'm not that special."

He cupped her cheek and turned her eyes back to him. "You are special. At least you are to me. I wouldn't care if you didn't have one supernaturally powerful bone in your body, you would still be special to me. And I would still want to marry you with every fiber of my being."

A warm flush of pleasure spread through her at his words, but she couldn't help but tease, "Have you been taking sweet talking lessons from your dad again?"

He looked back at her, completely serious. "Why? Is it working?" Then the façade cracked and he grinned. "Nah! I'm ten times the sweet talker that my dad is. Mom might be taken in by his charm, but I'm much more of a romanticist."

Jess's expression turned mischievous. "I don't know. Your dad has a smooth, debonair quality about him. My heart has fluttered a few times just from being around him."

"Ah! I'm crushed!" Andrew cried dramatically as he rolled off of her to land on his back on the floor. "I knew it all along! You're only marrying me to get to my dad! Oh, the heartbreak!"

Her laugh tinkled like bells as she slid off the sofa to straddle his hips. "Poor baby! Don't worry! I still love you more than your dad."

He cracked one eyelid open to squint at her. "Do you promise?"

She leaned down and rested her forearms on his chest. "Of course I promise, you goofball!"

"Whew! What a relief!" he laughed. "But speaking of the parents, my mom was bugging me earlier about our honeymoon. She was wanting to know if we've decided where we're going yet."

She sat back up, chewing on her lower lip out of nervous habit. "I've been thinking about that, and I wanted to run an idea by you."

He crossed his arms behind his head. "Lay it on me."

"Well," she began hesitantly. "What do you think about America?"

"Hey, I'm game!" he replied immediately. "I'm not quite as fluent as you are in English, but I definitely know more than enough to get by. So what did you have in mind, Las Vegas, or maybe Hawaii?"

Once again, her teeth closed down on her lip before she said, "Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of southern California."

That was enough to bring him into a halfway sitting position, propped up on his elbows. "Are you sure about that?"

She nodded rapidly. "Yeah. I think I'd really be okay with it. I haven't been back there since I stopped there for a couple of days on my way from my aunt and uncle's place in New York to here. We wouldn't even have to stay in a hotel because I still have my house there. Okay, technically I don't take possession of it for a few more years when I get my full inheritance, but it is mine. And there's so much to do there. I could take you around and show you all the places I remember from growing up. There's also Disneyland and the boardwalk at the Santa Monica pier not that far away."

He took in her happy expression and the way that her eyes sparkled. "You really want to do this, don't you?"

"Only if you do," she told him. "This honeymoon is supposed to be for both of us, so I want us to go somewhere that we both agree on."

He shook his head. "I don't care where we go, as long as were together. And I would love to see your old stomping grounds. I just don't want you to spend the whole trip as an emotional mess."

Her look turned defensive. "I can't promise that I won't shed a tear or two while we're there, but I'm not going to have a meltdown or anything. A lot of people may not believe this, but I have grown up a lot in the past couple of years. I'm not some silly, emotional little girl that can't face up to the fact that her parents are dead. I thought that you of all people would give me some credit for that."

Sensing that a full blown Jess tirade was on the way, and that he needed to nip it in the bud before it started if he didn't want to find himself sleeping on the couch instead of in his comfortable bed with her, he quickly sat all the way up, with her still straddling his hips.

"What are you, umph…" Jess began to protest, but her voice cut off as she found a hot, insistent mouth over hers. She sighed into the kiss and returned it eagerly for a moment before pulling back to attempt to give her fiancé an aggravated look. "You're trying to distract me."

He gave her a boyish grin that reminded her so much of when they had both been children and best friends in the past that her heart ached just a little bit. "Yeah, I am distracting you. Is it working?"

Her fingers moved to the buttons of his shirt as she leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "Is that door locked?" She swirled her tongue around his lobe.

He groaned softly. "Uh…yeah…but I forgot to tell you, we're supposed to be meeting everybody for some kind of a meeting or something over at the club in a little while."

Her nails scraped his chest as she continued slipping the buttons through the holes. "At what time?"

He was having a hard time focusing his thoughts. "Um…around 7:30 I was told."

She took his hand in hers so that she could look at the watch on his wrist. Then she smiled a purely feline smile. "That gives me more than enough time."

He tried to swallow the lump in his throat. "For what?"

"To start preparing for our honeymoon. After all, practice makes perfect," she mumbled against his lips. And then she kissed him, pushing him back down on his back on the thick, plush carpet.

Orion sighed as he looked out over the city while sitting on the edge of the roof of the apartment building. This was the first time that he had allowed himself to take in the sights of Tokyo since he had arrived there. Up until now he had preferred to remain in the sanctuary of Katie and Alex's bedroom, barely venturing out at all except to take care of personal needs. And even then he hadn't allowed himself the luxury of admiring the city. What was the use anyway?

But tonight had been different. His new young mistress, her brother, and the past forms of her parents were all out for the evening, which had left him alone in the apartment with Nebula. He had expected his former lover to disappear into Elysian, which is what she often did to avoid being around him, but tonight she seemed to be in rare form and had chosen to remain there. He had tried to stay out of her sight and out of her way, but her ranting and shrieks had carried to him all the way to where he had been curled up on Katie's bed.

Finally he'd had enough and had escaped out the balcony door to make his way up here so that he could have some peace and quiet as he pondered the mess that his life had become. He'd always known that returning to the real world after his long stay in the god's realm wouldn't be easy, but this was even worse than he had imagined. Nebula would be happy to see him dead. Luna was almost as vicious with her insults as her sister was. And his brother…well, he and Artemis had barely spoken more than a handful of words to each other since his return, and that hurt him just as much as Nebula's homicidal attitude did. He and his brother had always been close, despite their different personalities. But there was a wide chasm between them now…one that he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to close. At least not in this time.

"It's quite a sight, isn't it?" a quiet voice spoke up behind him.

He turned his head to look over his shoulder at the white feline who had joined him, and he sighed, "Yes it is. It reminds me a lot of a city that I visited once on a planet that sat just outside the rim of our solar system."

Artemis jumped up on the ledge to sit next to him. "Is that where you were when the Silver Millennium fell?"

He nodded. "Yes. I tried to immerse myself in the hustle and bustle of that city. I was testing myself to see if I still craved the excitement of the foreign and the unknown. But I couldn't get the moon out of my head."

"Or Nebula either," Artemis said knowingly.

"She was a huge part of it," Orion admitted. "But it was more than just her. I have traveled the galaxy and seen places that most people could never even dream of. But do you know what some of my fondest memories are? They are of growing up on Venus. Sure, dad wasn't around as much as we would have liked, but we had a good life there, you, mom, our little sisters, and me. We lived like royalty in the palace since mom worked for the queen. True, I wanted to see what else was out there. But when I came to visit the moon, it felt peaceful, like I had finally found a place where I could truly belong. And it scared me."

Surprisingly, Artemis chuckled. "Mom always did say that you were a free spirit. She even teased me about having a bit of the wandering bug in me because I always enjoyed traveling to the other planets with Minako when she would go on one of her visiting sprees. But she always believed that you would settle down one day. And she was happy with her life. She loved her job working for Minako's mother, and she still had Astrid and Starla with her."

Orion nodded a little sadly as he thought about his mother, Diana. She had been petite, even for a Mauan, but what she had lacked in size she more than made up for in spirit. She had been a kind, gentle, and loving mother, but a firm disciplinarian as well. And there hadn't been much that her four children could get away with without her knowing. Even now, he could remember the way her light gray hair would stand on end and her blue eyes would crackle when she'd caught him doing something that he shouldn't have, and that had been often.

Pushing aside his reminisces of the past; he turned to look at his brother. "So what brought you up here to speak to me tonight? I thought you were avoiding me."

Artemis winced. "I wasn't avoiding you exactly. I was just trying to get my thoughts straightened out. It was a huge shock to learn that you were still alive after all of this time. I had reconciled myself to thinking that you had probably died on one of the other planets during the fall of the Silver Millennium, so I never expected you to just suddenly show up out of the blue the way you did. But now that I've had a chance to calm down I thought it was time for us to talk. Luna went to visit with Nebula for a while, and since Nebula and I aren't exactly bosom buddies, I figured now was as good a time as any. I mean you're here for good now, so we may as well try to work things out."

Orion shook his head. "That's where you're wrong, brother. I may be here now, but I won't be staying. I wish I could, but I made a deal with Selene when I agreed to become the guardian of the Trinity swords, and I have to abide by it."

There was a sharp gasp behind them, and they both whirled around to see Luna standing there, looking at them in wide-eyed shock.

And beside her stood an infuriated Nebula.

"Damn!" Orion hissed.

"I just don't get it!" Nebula was complaining as she paced back and forth in front of the sofa in Jess and Andrew's living room. "Why is he still here? I know he's just going to take off again just like he always does, so I wish he would go ahead and go! It would make it much easier on everyone if he did."

"Bula," Luna sighed as she surveyed her older sister from her spot on the arm of the sofa. "I know it's not easy on you, having him come crashing back into your life like this and all. But have you even stopped to listen to what he has to say yet."

"Please!" Nebula retorted. "That no good alley cat could talk a blind person into buying one of Jess's paintings. He should be a car salesman with his slick maneuvers. But I know the way he operates, and I'm not going to get sucked in by him again. And I would have thought that I taught you better than to fall for his tricks, little sister! He's a con man, pure and simple. I just can't believe that I am the only one that can see that. He's got Katie all twisted around until she thinks that he is the best thing that has come along since the invention of electricity. And Jess, that traitor! I caught petting and fawning all over him last night while she fed him a salmon dinner. Salmon! Can you believe that? I usually have to beg her to get me salmon when I have a hankering for it. And if it hadn't been for Aurora all of these years I probably would have never gotten it."

Luna had to fight to hold back a snort of laughter at the rust colored cat's indignation, but she couldn't help but tease, "Oh, dear! The horror of him getting to enjoy your favorite meal!"

Amber eyes shot sparks at her. "I'm being serious here! He's weaving his spell over everyone. Besides, he's been under the care of gods for the last ten centuries. So I seriously doubt that he's been deprived of good food in that time. He's probably been eating like a king, dining on succulent fish fillets and the highest quality cream every night. I'm surprised he's not as round as a balloon by now!"

"Bula," Luna said gently. "I don't think he's the same as he was before. All you have to do is take a good look at him. The Orion I remember from the past was always a carefree, fun-loving kind of guy. But now he just seems…sad all the time. I hate to say it, but he reminds me a lot of how Serena was when we were battling Chaos back about five years ago and Darien went missing. He's going through the motions of living, and he may even crack a smile here and there, but I think he's crying on the inside."

Nebula stopped her pacing and turned a haughty look on her sibling. "So you think that I should just forget about everything he did to hurt me in the past and take him back like nothing ever happened?"

Luna shook her head. "No. But I do think that you should at least give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm not condoning him leaving you in any way, and I would love to slice him to ribbons for breaking your heart the way he did. But he is Artemis's brother. And while they may have different personalities, I do understand that they both have complex ways of thinking. I believe that there is more to his story than either one of us are giving him credit for."

"Are you talking about that cock and bull story he fed Queen Serenity about how he needed to find himself?" Nebula snorted. "That sounds like the whininess of a teenage child if you ask me. I went through the same thing with Jess after her parents died and she was forced to move to New York with her aunt and uncle. She went wild for a while and was out club hopping with that cousin of hers with a fake ID. She claimed that she was trying to find herself as well. She got over it after a while and began focusing on what was important. I don't think that Orion will ever grow up."

"Well you won't know unless you talk to him," Luna countered back. "Look, I'm not taking his side in this, but I think he deserves the chance to tell his side of the story."

A hiss left Nebula. "You've been around Princess Serenity too long. Her over-forgiving and naïve nature is beginning to rub off on you." She sighed when Luna's cinnamon colored eyes leveled on her. "Fine! I'll go talk to him. But I'm not promising anything."

Luna appeared pleased with her declaration. "Good! We need some solidarity, considering what we are facing. He's up on the roof. Artemis noticed him when we got here and decided to go talk to him."

"Whatever!" Nebula muttered. "I just want to get this over with so that I can get his excuses behind me and continue hating him."

"There is a thin line between love and hate," Luna said wisely. "Believe me, I've seen it many times over. You only had one teenage sailor scout to worry about. I had five. And Artemis was absolutely no help when it came to dealing with girl issues, especially about boys. If you only knew some of the drama I had to put up with, it would probably turn your whiskers gray."

"Please!" Nebula scoffed. "I'm surprised that my entire coat hasn't turned gray after putting up with what I've had to deal with out of that hellion. Jess may only be one girl, but she has enough energy for ten and the personality of a rabid Rottweiler. And as far as that thin line between love and hate nonsense, I can assure you, dear sister, I am certain which side of the line I stand on with him. And it's not love."

At least that was what she kept telling herself, but when she and Luna walked out onto the roof of the apartment building a few minutes later and she saw Orion sitting at the edge of the building with Artemis, her heart gave a peculiar little leap.

'Easy, girl,' she thought to herself. 'You aren't some naïve little female anymore that can get taken in by a pair of nice looking eyes and a bunch of meaningless words. Yes, he's here now, but he could be gone tomorrow. That's just the way he is. He's a wanderer. He'll never be able to settle down in one place.'

But as she took advantage of the fact that he had his back to her and took the opportunity to study him closely without him knowing, she began to notice what Luna had said before. He did look sad. There was a definite slump to his shoulders that she had never seen in him before. What had happened to the guy that used to laugh at everything?

And when he spoke, he sounded defeated. But his words packed a punch that hit Nebula straight in her stomach and made her feel like she was going to be sick.

"That's where you're wrong, brother," he was saying to Artemis. "I may be here now, but I won't be staying. I wish I could, but I made a deal with Selene when I agreed to become the guardian of the Trinity swords, and I have to abide by it."

A gasp left her lips at the same time Luna gasped as well. But it took less than a split second for her disillusionment to turn to anger. She glared at Orion with enough heat to fry an egg as he and Artemis both spun around.

"Damn!" he hissed.

Nebula's rage bubbled over. "Damn! That's all you have to say for yourself? You've been running around the past couple of days making nice with everyone and winning them over with that silver tongued personality of yours, and now I find that, just like always, you have no intentions of sticking around. I came up here thinking that I might give you the benefit of the doubt, but I see that my first instincts about you were correct after all and you haven't changed a bit! How despicable!"

"Bula!" he cried desperately as he jumped down from the ledge. "It isn't what you think. I…"

"Just save it!" she snapped back, interrupting him. "I'm not interested in hearing your excuses. I'm sure I've heard them all before. I get it! You're a free spirit that can't handle being in one place for too long. Fine! Maybe you should just run off to Romania and join the gypsies or something. That seems to be right up your alley!"

He was across the roof in a flash to stand in front of her with his face barely inches from hers. His whiskers were trembling in anger and his dark gray eyes resembled storm clouds.

"Damn it all, woman!" he roared. "I'm tired of pussy-footing around you all the time. For once you are going to shut that enormous mouth of yours and listen to what I have to say!"

Nebula took a step back in shock. She had never before heard him raise his voice in anger. She hadn't even known that he was capable of losing his temper. But as she looked in wide-eyed surprise at the almost spitting feline, she realized that he was most definitely capable of getting angry. And right now he was pissed!

But so was she. She hissed in his face, "Did you just dare to…"

"Baby, you haven't even begun to see what I would dare to do!" he fired back. "Now! All I'm asking is for five minutes of your precious time. So for once in your life, sit down, shut up, and let me get a word in edgewise for a change. I am sick and tired of you always jumping to conclusions about me. So for once I'm going to lay it all out in the open for you. And if I have to tie a gag around that pretty little mouth of yours to be able to say what I have to say in peace, then that's what I'll do. You got it?"

Luna and Artemis watched from the sidelines as the two stared each other down for several long seconds. This volatile situation could result in fur flying at any moment.

"This could get bad. Should we intervene?" Luna murmured quietly to Artemis.

He watched his brother as he faced off against his soul mate's sister. Wow! Talk about tension. In the end, he shook his head. "Nah! Let them hash this out between them. It's been a long time in coming."

Finally, Nebula took a deep breath, and calling upon the grace and dignity that she had learned from all of her years in the Lunarian court, she sat down regally with her tail curled around her feet. Then she replied haughtily, "Fine! I will listen to what you have to say. But don't expect it to change my opinion of you."

He eyed her for a moment. Evidently he was suspicious of her willingness to listen to him. Eventually, he backed up a few steps and sat as well. "Okay. First off, I want my chance to say what I was trying to tell you before you took off on me that last night that I was on the moon."

Nebula snorted. "You don't have to go through all that. Queen Serenity already filled me in on what you told her."

"Nevertheless, I want my opportunity to explain things to you personally," he countered back smoothly. "So please, just listen quietly and let me say this."

She rolled her amber eyes, but waved a paw at him to continue.

He sighed heavily. "Now, I do admit that leaving the way I did was a pretty crappy thing to do, especially in light of the weeks that we had spent together. But what I wish you could see was that I did it to try to protect you. It's true; I was a wanderer. It was the only life I had known all of my adult life. The only time that I'd had a stable home had been when I had been growing up on Venus. After that I spent years hopping around the solar system and even beyond it. I would change locations every few days just to keep the excitement fresh. Then I met you, and I started thinking that perhaps I could find a life worth living that didn't involve taking off to a new place every few days. I actually pictured myself being happy staying on the moon with you, and it scared me. Not that I was afraid of making a commitment to you, but because I was afraid that I would hurt you later. I was scared that I would settle down with you, and then later my need to search out new places would rise up again and that I would break your heart by leaving. So that was why I decided to leave when I did. I needed to discover for myself what I wanted in life. I thought it would be simple. I would take a trip, and if it didn't satisfy me in the way being with you did, then I would know that the moon was where I was supposed to be."

He paused for a few moments before continuing. "I was miserable the entire trip. I couldn't stop thinking about you. I ended up on a busy planet right past the outer rim of the solar system, and I tried to lose myself in the activity there, but I couldn't. All I wanted to do was come back to you, grovel at your feet for being an idiot, and ask you to marry me. I knew then that was the life I wanted. That Solarian who was the commander of the Lunarian army had offered me a staff position on the tactical team, and I was going to take it. I knew that it might take me a while to win you back, but I was willing to do whatever I had to do to do it. The day I was scheduled to leave was the day that the news reached me that the moon kingdom had been attacked and had fallen and that mass chaos had flown through the solar system like wildfire as the other planets began dying off, one by one. I smuggled myself onto a ship that was coming back this way, and only made it as far as Saturn before the crew got frightened and turned back. I stayed there because I had found a teleporter that only needed a few minor repairs. So I fixed it and used it to get the rest of the way to the moon. Of course there was nothing left by the time I got there. And that was where Selene found me and told me what happened."

Nebula swallowed the tears that had begun burning her eyes, feeling stupid that his tale had affected her the way it had. His remorse now in no way made up for the fact that he had left her. But knowing that their separation had been as hard on him as it had been on her let her know that he had at least loved her as much as she had him back then. But that was then, and this was now.

She cleared her throat gruffly. "Well that was a very entertaining story, and I am happy to know that all of the emotion that I poured into our relationship wasn't a total waste. But what I am more interested in hearing about is this latest revelation of yours that you are going to leave again."

"I'm interested in that myself," Artemis piped up. "You mentioned something about a deal you made with Selene."

Orion nodded. "Yes. When I agreed to become the guardian of the Trinity swords, I promised that I would stay there until the time came that the three chosen ones arrived to take possession of them. After that, I would be released from my duty and able to rejoin the world once more."

Luna shot a quick glance at her sister before pinning Orion with her cinnamon eyes. "Why do I sense a big but about to come up?"

Orion smiled sadly. "The gods are always a tricky bunch, even one as gracious and as lovely as Selene. She assured me that by the time that my mission was over that all of you would have been awakened from the stasis that Queen Serenity had put you in and that I would be able to join you if that was what I wished. But the problem is the timing. You see, the place that I have been all of these centuries is timeless. So it doesn't exist in any specific time. The deal I made with her was that whenever the Trinity bearers arrived and released me from my duty, that would mean that I belong to whatever time they belong to."

Artemis hissed in a breath. "So you're saying that your proper time is the 30th century?"

Orion nodded. "Yes. When Katie and the others return to their own time, I will go with them. And that will be where I remain. The only reason why I've been allowed here is because this time is where they happened to be when they found me. But when they go, I go."

Irritation crackled all around Nebula. "So this has all been part of some giant joke! You drop in for a quick visit after we all thought that you were dead, and then take off again so that you can pop up in another thousand years? Unbelievable!"

"Well it's not exactly the way I wanted things to go," he grumbled. "But look at it this way. I'm not leaving in the same sense that I'm just taking off to go gallivanting around. I'll be around, it's just going to take a few years."

"A few years!" she screeched. "Try over ten centuries! Granted, the Earth will be frozen over for most of that time, but there still a lot of years between when Crystal Tokyo will be created and the time that the kids belong to."

Humor glinted in Orion's eyes. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you sound like you're going to miss me."

Nebula jumped to her feet, her tail shooting straight up and bushing out. "I will not miss you! In fact, I'm happy that you won't be sticking around! I also like knowing exactly when I can expect you to make another unwanted appearance in my life so that I can take steps to make sure that I avoid you. In fact, this works out perfectly. In a couple of days you will be gone. And if I'm lucky I'll never have to worry about running into you ever again."

With those parting words she turned and strode regally from the roof.

Orion watched her with his head tilted in confusion for a moment before muttering, "Did either one of you get the feeling that she was just a little bit over-zealous in her convictions?"

Artemis just shrugged, but Luna nodded rapidly. "Yes, she was. It looks like you're going to have your work cut out for you if you try to win her back in the future." Then her whiskers twitched nervously. "You are going to try to get back together with her in the future, aren't you?"

"Of course!" Orion snorted. "I haven't been hanging around and taking her abuse for nothing. I thought that if maybe I could thaw her out a bit here that it might make it a little easier when I get to the future."

Artemis let out a low whistle. "I'd sure hate to be in your position, bro."

Kunzite reached over and pulled a thumb away from white, gnashing teeth. "Mina, love, you are going to wind up gnawing that nail past the quick if you keep that up."

She looked up and gave him a tremulous smile. "Sorry. I'm just so nervous." Then she looked at the chewed nail in question and groaned. Her manicurist was going to kill her!

Kunzite gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Are you ready to do this?"

She glanced over at the parking lot and took a mental roll call. Yep, it looked like everyone was there. Then she looked toward the large, black double doors emblazoned with the fiery Blaze logo and sighed. "Let's do it."

They walked into the club, which was a lot less crowded than normal since it was a Wednesday night. The bouncer by the door grinned and waved them by as he recognized them. One of the perks of being part owner of the building and a close friend of the club's boss meant never having to pay a cover charge to get in.

"Hey, guys!" the big, burly man said in greeting. "The boss lady and the rest of your crew are upstairs in the loft."

"Appreciate it," Kunzite replied back as he took in the somewhat sparse scattering of people on the dance floor. "Slow night, huh?"

The bouncer shrugged. "It always is in the middle of the week. But we more than make up for it on the weekends. Summer's right around the corner though, so these slow nights will probably start disappearing soon. Now you two better hurry on up. Miss Hino was all ramped up over something when she came in and told me to steer everybody her way as they came in."

"Hmph!" Mina sniffed as she took Kunzite's hand as they began walking across the club toward the stairs that led up to what they called the loft. "Raye can try to be sneaky all she wants to, but she can't hide it from me. I know exactly what this is about."

"Yeah! Jed finally got up off of his happy butt and proposed to her!" a voice trilled in her ear.

Mina and Kunzite both jumped in surprise and turned to see that their smiling future daughter had snuck up behind them.

"Ha!" the younger blonde crowed. "I wish the two of you could have seen the looks on your faces! That was priceless!"

"Very funny!" Mina grumbled. "And yes, I was well aware that things between Raye and Jed were finally reaching that point. I'm also expecting the news that Nephrite finally popped the question as well."

"He did!" Emma gushed excitedly. "Just wait until you see him and Lita together. The waves coming off of them are just like watching a lightning storm. The best part is that Skye and Jay don't have a clue about what's going on. I've got my camera phone set and ready to capture that iconic moment. But enough about those little couples. How has your day been?"

Mina groaned and rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I swear that you are too much like me for your own good. Our day has been perfectly fine, thank you very much. But I'm sure you already know that."

Emma flashed her a V-sign. "Of course I do. I just thought that I would be polite and ask though."

"There you are!" an aggravated voice exclaimed as Katie came from the direction of the restrooms. "Thanks a lot for waiting on me, Em!"

"Sorry!" Emma chirped as she flapped her hand. "Now let's get back upstairs. I'm starving!" And she flitted off toward the stairs.

Katie followed her, grouching, "What is her deal today? She's acting more like a basketcase than usual."

Mina and Kunzite looked at each other as wide grins began unfurling on their faces. Then Kunzite took her hand and tucked it inside the crook of his arm. "Come on, Aphrodite. Let's get this show on the road."

They had barely reached the top of the staircase when there was an ear-splitting screech, and then Serena was barreling into Mina to hug her enthusiastically.

"Where have you been?" the reincarnated princess began fussing once she had gotten all the hugging out of the way. "If I ever pulled a disappearing stunt like that you would never let me hear the end of it."

"I know! I know!" Mina giggled. "I'm sorry about worrying you like that. I guess I should have at least left you a message or something."

Serena crossed her arms, trying to look severe. "Yes, you should have. Now what has been going on?"

"I'll tell you about it in a little while," Mina told her quickly. "Now what is this meeting all about. Have we gotten word from Trista already? I thought we still had a few days before anything was going down."

"Oh, it's nothing that serious," Serena replied with a conspiratorial wink. "Raye just decided that she wanted to have a little get together, so she called around and invited everyone up."

"Oh! I see," Mina drawled innocently. Evidently Serena was of the same opinion that she was, that this was some sort of an informal engagement party.

"It's about time you showed up, Blondie!" Raye growled as she elbowed her way in between the two blondes. She shoved a glass of wine into Mina's hand. "Now why don't you come and join the rest of us and quit being such a loner."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Mina murmured as she grabbed Kunzite's hand and pulled him behind her to where the rest of their friends were congregated. The back area of the loft was set up a lot like a lounge, with long padded benches along the walls that were grouped into a horseshoe shape so that conversation could flow easily within a large group. This section was usually rented out for company parties and such, but tonight they had it all to themselves.

Mina and Kunzite took a seat next to Serena and Darien on the middle bench. Andrew and Jess were on the future king and queen's other side, near the far right bench that held the teen brigade. And on the left bench were the remaining three inner scouts and generals.

"Okay!" Raye began after everyone was situated. "Does everyone have a drink? Good!" Her eyes narrowed on her future son. "Jay! I said that you may have one glass of wine. If you drink it all up in just a few minutes you will not be getting any more."

Jayden grinned at her impishly. "Sorry, mom. But that's some good stuff."

Mina saw an opening to tease her fiery friend and took it. "You're letting him drink?"

Raye waved a hand. "Just one glass. I figured that he and Hannah were old enough to indulge in one glass of wine with us adults. After all, they fight monsters like adults."

Amy nodded with a sly smile. "Even my mother allowed me to have a glass of wine when I was fourteen, if it were a special occasion."

"But I'm fifteen now," Jayden protested. "Doesn't that mean that I can have a bit more? I don't see you riding herd on the others." He jerked his finger toward the older teens. "Emma is already on her second glass."

"What?" Kunzite growled.

Emma tossed her blonde head. "Oh, please! I'm seventeen years old! Who cares if I have a couple of glasses of wine?"

"And my eighteenth birthday is right around the corner," Rini supplied.

"But the rest of them aren't seventeen yet," Jayden complained.

"Close enough," they all intoned together. And it was true. DJ had a birthday coming up in just a couple of weeks, and Skye's was just a few weeks after that. Katie and Alex's wasn't until November, but what was six months?

"Geez, Jay!" Alex snickered. "You make it sound like we're sitting around, getting trashed. It's just a little wine, dude."

"Nobody is going to overindulge," Raye announced. "It is a work or school night for just about everyone here. Now everybody quit yapping for a moment. I have a couple of topics that I want to discuss really quick, and then we'll move on the wonderful spread that the crew over at Lita's restaurant whipped up for us."

"Well get a move on then, Pyro. I'm starving!" Serena said jokingly.

Raye rolled her eyes. "So what else is new, Meatball Head? You're always starving. But you're just going to have to suck it up for a few more minutes. Lita, would you like to take over?"

Lita faked a yawn and waved her left hand around. "Nah! You're doing a pretty good job of running the show by yourself." There was a flash of green from her hand in the low lighting.

Skye paused with her wine glass halfway to her lips. Her head jerked around to pin both of her future parents with a chilling, slate blue gaze. "Whoa! Hold up there just a second! Let me see your hand again. Is that a ring on your finger?"

Lita put on an innocent expression as she held the hand back out. "What, this? Yes, it so happens that it is a ring. Isn't that the type of jewelry that people usually wear on their fingers?"

Raye sniffed daintily. "I don't see what the big deal is. I have one too." She fluttered her fingers in front of her, making the ruby on her ring finger shimmer softly.

"Oh! Congratulations! I'm so happy for you both!" Serena exclaimed softly with little stars in her eyes.

Jess held up her wine glass in salute. "Yeah, congrats! It's about time."

"I'll say it's about time," Mina said slyly. "I was beginning to question the legitimacy of your children."

"Mina!" Amy scolded lightly. Then she smiled at her two newly engaged friends. "Please accept my congratulations as well.

Darien, Andrew, Kunzite, and Zoicite called out the typical male hurrahs to Nephrite and Jadeite.

Raye visibly deflated as she and Lita exchanged surprised looks. Then she rounded on Serena. "So that's it? Not that I'm complaining, far from it actually, but I figured that you would have shattered every light bulb in the place with your squealing, Serena."

A mysterious smile appeared on Serena's face. "Honestly Raye, I would have thought that you would give me some credit for maturing some by now. I can show my enthusiasm for my friends' happiness without going completely insane. Besides, it's not like we haven't known that engagements between you guys were coming for quite some time now. The only thing I am shocked about is the fact that it took so long for the guys to finally pop the question. They've been sitting on those rings for a while now."

"H-how do you know that?" Jadeite sputtered.

"Yeah! How?" Nephrite echoed.

Serena burst into giggles. "Boys, boys, boys! You didn't honestly think that you could go buy those rings from one of my best friend's mother and that I wouldn't find out about them, did you? You bought those rings only two days apart from each other, and I knew about them within five minutes of you walking out of Osa-P Jewelry."

"What? Mrs. Osaka sold us out?" the two flabbergasted men cried together.

"Nope!" Serena replied with a laugh. "Mrs. O protects her clients' confidentiality. But what neither one of you noticed was that Molly was there at the same time you were. Melvin was out of town that week, so she was staying with her mom. When she saw you guys walk in, she ducked out of sight. She thought I might be interested in your purchases, so she called me afterward."

Lita broke out into sidesplitting laughter. "That little sneak! I never knew she had it in her!"

"I always knew that there was something that I liked about her," Raye chuckled.

"I know, right?" Serena gasped through her giggles. "There were many times that I almost considered making her an honorary sailor scout just because she has an uncanny way of finding out information that people want to stay hidden." Then her expression suddenly darkened. "Of course that also meant that there were some things that I was afraid that she would find out that I didn't want her to."

Jadeite refused to be comforted by her words. "So what is she doing still being such a gossip at her age? She is a married woman and soon to be a mother. Shouldn't she have other things on her mind?"

"So how is Molly doing?" Amy asked quickly, jumping into the conversation. "I know that she's mom's patient, but she won't tell me much because of the whole doctor-patient confidentiality thing."

Serena stuck her tongue out at Jadeite before addressing Amy. "She seems to be doing okay now. They had that one scare back near the beginning of the pregnancy, but so far it looks like that crisis has passed. She's due near the date of my wedding, so she's hoping that she'll be able to come. No offense, Jess, but Molly would have been my matron of honor if it hadn't been for the problems that she's had."

Jess waved a hand. "No offense taken. I understand that she has been your friend since you were kids. I still think that you should have chosen one of the others…"

"Don't start!" Serena snapped, cutting off the argument that she had heard many times by now. "You are the one I chose, and I'm sticking with it."

Across the room, Skye had jumped to her feet and was glaring intently at an apprehensive looking Emma. "You vapid, airhead blonde! Is this what has had you bursting at the seams all day?"

"Partly!" Emma squeaked as she tried to take cover behind Alex. "There has been a lot going on today."

Rini suddenly slapped a hand to her forehead. "Omigosh! That's right! I remember the stories now!"

A sharp squeal left Katie's throat before she clamped both hands over her mouth.

DJ, Alex, Jayden, and Hannah all sat with looks of confusion on their faces for a moment before comprehension began creeping over their expressions. Then, one by one, they all turned to look at Mina and Kunzite.

Mina let out a nervous giggle. "What are all of you looking at?"

Emma's gray eyes gleamed with satisfaction. "You can try to pull the wool over everyone else's eyes, mommy dearest, but you can't fool us. We've all heard this story more than once in our lifetimes. So it's time for you to come clean. Why don't you tell everyone exactly what you and dad have been up to today."

Darien sat up straight, immediately snapping to attention. "Kunzite, is there something that you need to tell me?" He eyed his former, and future head general quizzically.

Kunzite reached for Mina's hand. "Sweetheart, do you want to tell them?"

She shook her head. And for the first time that anyone could remember, she remained completely silent.

Raye leaned across the corner where the two benches met and reached playfully for Mina's throat. "Okay! Who are you, and what have you done with the real Mina?"

Lita sat back in her seat with both her arms and legs crossed. "For real! Something serious must be up to make Mina close that huge trap of hers."

Amy's face was full of concern as she reached for her purse, muttering to herself about needing her computer so that she could scan Mina for any health problems.

Serena studied her almost twin closely, taking the signs of her extreme nervousness. Mina fidgeted in her seat as she chewed relentlessly on her bottom lip. Her bright blue eyes were rounder than normal, and they held a panicked look in them, making her look like she was ready to bolt and run at any moment. It was very un-Mina-like behavior indeed.

"Girls, chill out for a moment," Serena told the other scouts firmly. Then she turned her complete attention to her captain, friend, and former cousin. "Mina, please. If there is something wrong, then I wish you would tell me."

Mina blinked hard, as if coming out of a daze. "Oh! No! There's nothing wrong. I just…" She paused for a moment, and then leaned across Kunzite to fling her arms around her princess. She began to cry softly, and after letting out a couple of hiccups, she whispered something in Serena's ear.

Serena reared back, shock and surprise flitting across her face. "Excuse me! Did I hear that right?"

Mina swiped at her wet cheeks as she nodded apprehensively.

Then the shriek that Raye had been expecting earlier ripped out of Serena's vocal chords with such pitch and intensity that is was amazing that the wineglasses that everyone was holding didn't shatter.

"What?" Darien, Jess, Raye, Lita, Amy, Andrew, Jadeite, Nephrite, and Zoicite demanded while the visiting teens from the future snickered and grinned.

Serena waved a hand at Kunzite. "Go ahead and share your news before the others start bursting blood vessels."

Kunzite grinned and stood up, pulling Mina up beside him. He kept her close to his side with an arm around her waist as he looked around at his friends with a slightly smug expression. "I just wanted to introduce everyone to my wife. Mina and I were married this morning."

Complete silence fell over the group. In fact, for a good twenty seconds the only sound was the pounding of the music from downstairs.

Finally, Emma squirmed and spoke quietly to Alex. "Hey, Cupcake. Why don't we go take a spin around the dance floor before we eat."

He nodded and took her hand to lead her to the stairs.

"Hey! Wait for us!" DJ and Katie called as they scrambled after them.

Skye nudged Jayden and Hannah. "Come on, Pipsqueaks! I don't think big dude by the door will say anything about you two enjoying a dance or two on a slow night like tonight. Especially if you stick with Rini and me. And if he does have a problem with it I'll break his nose."

Rini nodded, and together she and Skye herded off the youngest members of the group.

The silence stretched on for about another ten seconds before Jadeite ground out between clenched teeth, "Would you mind repeating yourself, Kunzite? Because I think I heard you wrong. I could have sworn that you just said that you've gotten married."

A goofy grin stretched Kunzite's lips. "You heard me right, Hothead. Mina and I said our 'I dos' today. We are now legally bound to each other." He held up his left hand to show that he was now sporting a wide gold band around his ring finger.

Raye's violet eyes snapped as she stared hard at Mina. "You got married without us?"

"Of course she didn't!" Lita scoffed. "This is just her idea of a practical joke. Ha ha! Very funny!"

Mina's head shot up, her hair flying in a flurry around her. "It is not a joke! We really are married. I admit that it was kind of a spur of the moment thing, and my head is still spinning a little bit, but it's true."

"I believe you!" Serena chirped.

"I do too! You go, girl!" Jess called out.

Amy nodded and said quietly, "I think she's telling the truth."

Raye jumped up and grabbed Mina by the arm. "Okay! Girl conference time! You guys go…get a beer or something and talk about whatever it is that you guys like to talk about." Then she hauled Mina over toward the table that held the food.

Serena, Jess, Lita, and Amy just looked at each other and shrugged before following after them.

The guys all chuckled before drifting over to the small, secondary bar that was only opened on busy nights. Jadeite disappeared behind it for a moment, and then popped back up with a half dozen frosty, long-necked bottles.

"Ditch the women's drinks," he said, gesturing to the full glasses of wine that each of the men were still holding. Then he began popping the tops on the beers and passing them around. "Let's have a real drink while we toast the first one of our group that actually had the balls to take the ultimate plunge. We will all mourn his loss."

Kunzite growled as he accepted a bottle. "You don't have to make it sound like I died, Jed! So Mina and I exchanged vows, big deal! It's not like she hasn't already been living with me for two years. Nothing is going to change."

Nephrite patted his shoulder. "Oh, you poor, misguided man. All guys like to think that marrying their sweetheart will change nothing in their relationship, but unfortunately it does. Am I right, Zoi?"

Zoicite looked up, startled. "Well there's no scientific basis to prove that theory, and nobody has ever done a clinical study on the subject, but after speaking to a lot of the married male doctors at the hospital, I am inclined to admit that there might be something to the old 'ball and chain' scenario."

Darien sighed into his beer. "Well, speaking as the only one of us that actually got married in the past, I have to say that marriage does change some things. But it's not necessarily bad. Okay, so Serenity did become slightly more possessive and even a little bit demanding. But our situation wasn't exactly normal."

Andrew shuddered. "You know, this is not exactly the things I want to hear when I'm only about two months away from my wedding. Now I'm going to have nightmares of Jess suddenly turning into a raving tyrant like my mom."

"Maybe not," Jadeite replied, trying to be optimistic. "We're not exactly marrying normal women."

Nephrite smirked. "No, we're marrying sailor scouts, which could be worse. Think about it, Jed. Raye already has you on such a short leash that you barely have enough slack to turn around."

The other men roared with laughter as the fiery general flushed.

Then Darien held up his bottle in salute. "In any case, here's to Kunzite and Mina. May they continue to find happiness together."

"To Kunzite and Mina," the others repeated as they all clinked their bottles together.

"Okay, start talking," Raye demanded as she finished topping off everyone's wine glasses.

Mina shrugged. "There's not much to tell really. Kunzite asked me last night what I thought about getting married today, and I said yeah, sure. I thought he was joking around. He's not normally the type to come up with something impulsive you know. Well then, early this morning, he wakes me up and tells me that it is time for me to get ready for our wedding. I still thought he was joking because these things take time to plan and get together, so I brushed him off. Then he literally pulled me from the bed and stuck me in the shower. He seemed so serious that I started thinking that maybe there was something going on after all. So I did my hair and make up, even though it was an ungodly early hour. Then, when I came back into the bedroom I got the shock of my life."

"Well?" Serena, Raye, and Lita insisted as the blonde bride stopped to take a sip of her wine.

Mina smiled. "He'd gotten me a dress. It was one that I saw in a magazine a while back and had a fit over, but the only reason why I didn't order it was because it was white. I liked the style and all, but the white made it look like the only thing it would be appropriate for was a wedding. And it was really too formal looking anyway, and I figured that I'd never have anything to wear it to. So I forgot about it. He didn't."

"Oh! That's so sweet!" Jess and Amy sighed together.

"Yeah! It's so sweet that I might go into a diabetic coma," Raye snorted. "But I'm still not buying this whole he sprang it on you with no notice deal. There are certain things that you have to take care of before you can get married, like a marriage license. And you can't just get that at the drop of a hat. Both of you have to be present to apply for one, and then there's a waiting period."

An evil grin appeared on Mina's face. "Not if you're Kunzite. He knows people that work in most of the city offices since he always has to deal with them over permits and such. He waltzed us right into the clerk's office, and we walked out with a license barely ten minutes later, with no waiting or anything. The next thing I knew he had me in front of a justice of the peace and I was saying I do. It was all terribly romantic in a way, you know, eloping and all. I felt like we were doing something wicked."

"You were doing something wicked!" Lita snapped. "You ran off and got married without even letting your best friends know. That was pretty sneaky!"

"I know," Mina sighed. "I asked Kunzite if he didn't want to at least have Darien and Serena there, but he said that he just wanted it to be us for a little while before we let everyone in on it. He even rented out this huge suite at some swank hotel downtown that had a Jacuzzi and everything."

Five sets of hands slapped over ears as the rest of the girls shrieked, "We don't want those details!"

"What I don't get is why the rush?" Amy asked in her quiet voice. "Why was there such a hurry for you to get married now?"

Mina shrugged. "I don't know what got into him. I guess he just had a moment of insanity." Then she giggled. "I'm not really that surprised though. You guys have no idea how many times he asked me to elope with him back during the Silver Millennium. I never did of course, even though I've sometimes wondered if I should have. After all, my past mother had already bonded us through a Venusian ceremony, and that was almost as binding as marriage. But I kept putting him off when he brought it up. I guess, and no offense, Serena, I just didn't want us to have to live a lie the way Serenity and Endymion did."

Serena nodded. "I understand. Having to live apart from your husband is not an easy thing to do. I should know. But none of us have to worry about that in this time. And now you've gone and gotten the jump on all of us. This time when he asked you to elope, you were able to say yes with no reservations."

"I must have been out of my mind!" Mina giggled as she looked down at the gold wedding band that had joined her engagement ring on her left hand. "But enough about me. This is not my wedding reception. Kunzite and I have decided to throw a bit of a party in a couple of weeks after everything has calmed down. But this is an engagement party for Raye and Lita. And the love goddess wants details about how these proposals came about."

"And a chance to ooh and ah over those rings," Serena seconded.

Raye blushed madly while Lita muttered. "Oh, you don't want all the mushy details."

"Oh yes we do!" Serena, Mina, Jess, and Amy all laughed. "Now spill!"

A/N So like I said before, there were a lot of things happening in this chapter. The biggest one being, of course, that Mina and Kunzite tied the knot! *throws confetti* Yay for them! But will they be the only ones to say "I do" before the end of this story? Oh, I think not. I'm definitely doing the Sere/Dare and Jess/Drew weddings before this is over. I'm still on the fence about Raye/Jed, Lita/Neph, and Amy/Zoi because I don't know for sure yet if they will be getting married before or after Crystal Tokyo arrives. But even if it is after, they will get their moment in the spotlight in the series of one shots I will be doing after this story's completion. Yes, I have decided to do the one shots because I'm just not ready to let my little babies die completely yet, but I just don't think I have it in me to do another complete drama on top of the other things I want to do. I'm hoping to be able to launch either The Kingdom of the Silver Sun or Redeemable Sin about the same time I start the What If revamp, so I have a lot planned. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. So, possibility of our crew maybe landing in Crystal Tokyo next chapter. Ooh! That should be fun! Catch you guys later! Please take a moment to review me and tell me what you thought. Be safe! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~