Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

Random person: … That's it?

Kasadi: Yes. That's it. Unless you want to be shot.

Random person: ….

Key

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 4

Panicking and flailing her arms as she ran around in circles, Serena screamed at the top of her lungs for nearly ten seconds before spotting the large cart of oranges that was conveniently set up right beside the entrance to the store.

Without a second thought, the blonde launched herself off the ground and flew through the air ten feet, landing ungracefully behind the cart. She scrambled around for a few seconds, and then curled herself into the fetal position, hiding behind the stand as best she could. Blue eyes wide with fright, she bit her fingernails nervously, one phrase repeating over and over in her head like a broken record.

'CRUD CRUD CRUD CRUD CRUD CRUD CRUD.'

"MOM!"

Ilene Tsukino blinked, her gaze turning from the asparagus she was inspecting to the large sliding glass doors of the supermarket.

"That's strange… I could have sworn I just heard Serena right now…"

With a shrug, she tossed the vegetable into her shopping cart and headed towards the checkout counter. After paying for her groceries, the woman loaded up the many bags in her cart and exited the supermarket, stopping just outside a stand of oranges that was parked outside the store. Unaware that something was amiss, she pulled out her cell phone and punched in a few numbers, then held it up to her ear to listen to the ringing.

'NOT MY CELL PHONE. ANYTHING BUT MY CELL PHONE!' Serena thought, panic starting to take over once again.

Ilene frowned as the answering machine for her house played.

"Where is she?" the mother wondered aloud as she hung up her cell phone after leaving a message on the answering machine. Her frown grew as she pushed the cart to her car.

"I swear, if that cat isn't clean when I get home…"

Serena let out a sigh of relief as she collapsed onto the ground, thanking her lucky starts for her good fortune. The moment quickly ended, however, when the last words she had heard her mother say finally clicked in her brain.

"If that cat isn't clean when I get home…"

… Crap.

Serena sprang to her feet, realized that her mother hadn't left the parking lot, shrieked, and threw herself to the pavement once more, crawling behind the orange cart once again, just as her mother whipped her head around to look back at where she had just been a moment ago.

"I could have sworn I just heard… Oh, my mind must be playing tricks on me again," she muttered. She shrugged, finished loading up the groceries into the trunk, and got into her car. After about half a minute, Serena heard the sound of the car leaving the parking lot. Letting out a sigh of relief, she slowly poked her head out from behind the cart. Upon seeing that her mother was indeed gone, the blonde jumped to her feet and let out a victorious laugh. Her moment of celebration was brought to an abrupt end, however, when she once again recalled what her mother had said before leaving.

Anger taking over once more, Serena stormed away from the supermarket, eyes narrowed into slits as she searched her surroundings for any sight of her black cat.

"The very MOMENT I find that cat…"

It was an hour after the incident at the supermarket when Serena finally trudged up the street to her house, her temper even worse than before. The only thing keeping her from looking ready to kill the next living thing she saw was her exhaustion from running all over Tokyo in search of Luna.

Muttering death threats about the cat under her breath, Serena turned into her front yard, trudging across the grass slowly, ignorant to her surroundings.

Until she heard a snicker.

Her head snapped over to her right so fast it should have hurt. However, pain was the last thing on Serena's mind at the moment.

All of her attention was focused on the snickering black cat sitting high up in the branches of the tree in the Tsukino's front yard.

It was then that Serena realized that Luna had been up the tree the WHOLE FUDGING TIME.

And she took this information very well.

"LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Any brave souls who had been about to step outside their houses to see if the situation was safe retreated back into their houses and locked the doors.

Author's Note

I'm alive! Shocking, isn't it? I'm REALLY REALLY sorry about this chapter being put up so late! I didn't mean to! School just kinda piled up all at once, and I was scrambling around trying to work on projects left and right.

I don't know when the next chapter will be posted, as I've been assigned this HUGE project that's worth 2000 points of my grade. It's over November 10th, and I'm hoping I'll get the next chapter posted sometime after then. I plan to get one up by Thanksgiving break at the latest. Thanks for being patient with me, guys! I really do appreciate it! Please review and let me know what you think of this chapter! I know it's not my best, but I really wanted to get this one posted soon.