Lita's New Year's Cookie Scramble Chapter 4 A Gaggle of Girls, a sailor moon fanfic

Lita's New Year's Cookie Scramble
By Douglas Helm and "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl

This story and our other Sailor Moon stories reside at our Shoujo Fiction .com domain. Comments are welcomed and encouraged.

Chapter 4 - A Gaggle of Girls

"I'm back!" Serena declared.

"Where are your robes?" Amy questioned. She quickly ducked out of the way, as Lita passed an order of cookies with a little more vigor than necessary.

"Gah! I forgot. My top was getting majorly tight so I changed and then..." She looked mildly pained. "Should I go back?"

"No, that's okay, Serena. We're getting busy and I don't think it'll really matters," Lita remarked.

"Good, I'm finally free," Mina exclaimed. She turned to say that she was finally ready to take a romantic walk with Dave but instead, she found the place beside her vacant. Looking around, she quickly spotted her potential date standing in front of Serena.

"I don't suppose... I mean..." He bowed flamboyantly. "Fair goddess, would you be interested in taking a walk with me? You can let the kids handle the booth." She giggled then nodded. He took her hand and led her away.

"Hey!"

"Hay is for horses," little Lita jibed, plunking herself beside the ribbon-wearing blonde. "You're right, Ames. This chair is way low."

"That's 'cause you're smaller," Mina shot back. She then turned back to try and save her date. Regrettably for her, she saw Serena and the boy that she was interested in walking away. "Hey! Wait for me!" Mina squawked and left the booth at a run.

"What is up with her, Lita?"

"Who knows?" Lita replied shrugging her shoulders. "Boy, those cookies look yummy..."

"I know," her friend agreed mournfully as her stomach growled, "And I'm hungry too." She then shot Serena a sour look. "And where does she think she's going?"

"Oh let her be, Amy," Lita quipped, "We can handle this. We're mature young women after all!"

- - - - -

Reenie sat the corner in Raye's room looking worriedly at the door and chewing her bottom lip. 'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!' she chanted to herself, 'Why are you so stupid?!' Everything had been going fine until Serena had passed by Darien. He had called out to her but she chose to ignore him. That had placed the pink-haired youngster on the defensive. She had wanted to go say hi but Serena had pointedly refused to let her. That had started things rolling downhill.

'Stupid!' The seven year old couldn't decide if she was thinking of herself or Serena. 'She's all-serious now... Why though?' It made no sense. 'If anything, shouldn't she... Is she trying to brownnose Aunt Ellen?'

The thought of her aunt made Reenie's tummy clench. 'Oh jeez, if Serena sends me home...' She grimaced. "Maybe I should go apologize..." She got up, walked to the door, and then paused. After a moment, she sighed, walked back to the corner, and sat down. 'Man, if I leave, she'll go completely ballistic!'

- - - - -

A voice asked, "Where's your parents? It's kinda late for you kids to be out by yourselves."

"We're fourteen, buster!" came a higher, if squeaky, sounding voice. Amy glanced over at her companion; Lita looked annoyed.

"Oh yeah? You look about nine to me, little girl," he declared sarcastically. Before Amy could step in to prevent an argument, a new voice distracted her.

"I wanna buy a cookie," a blond-haired girl about eleven years old interjected. She squinted at Amy. "Do you go to my school?"

"No, I go to Crossroads," Amy replied. "What kind of cookie would you like, young lady?"

"I don't know..." the girl replied, having forgotten her selection. "Don'tcha got lemon?"

"No, just what's on the trays," Amy replied.

"No lemon. What type of cookie booth are you?" 'And there's no way she goes to Crossroads.' As the girl who huffed and flounced away, reminding Amy of her friend Mina in some ways, she suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. At least, Lita had gone back to her cheerful self. The blue-haired girl tugged on her robes. "Lita... I'm going to kill Mina! She should be here to help!"

"What about Serena?" the brunette asked.

"I haven't quite decided..."

- - - - -

"Um, does she follow you around like this all the time, Serena?" Dave asked as he glanced over his shoulder at Mina who was trailing them about thirty feet behind like some lost puppy.

Serena glanced over her shoulder and stopped. "Jeez, Mina, what are you doing?"

"Trying to keep you from stealing MY boyfriend!"

"He's a little old for you, don't you think?" Serena asked. In that frilly red dress, her friend looked like an elementary school kid.

"What are you talking about?" was the Goddess of Love's reply. "We're both the same age."

"Why don't you go help Amy. She's majorly swamped." 'Jeez! Why doesn't she take the hint?' Since her breakup with Darien, Serena often felt like a fifth wheel, especially around her flirtatious friend.

"What about you?" Mina countered. "Shouldn't you come help out too?!"

"I will, Mina. I just... I just haven't seen all the booths," Serena replied smoothly. "Come on, Dave." And with that, she left Mina standing in the swirling mass of people, a scowl firmly planted on her face.

Dave spent the next few minutes trying to devise a line to get Serena's phone number or email when he heard a male voice, and it didn't sound friendly. "Just what do you think you're doing?!" Dave turned and his eyes widened as he saw a man at least twenty coming towards them, murder clearly showing in his eyes.

"Darien," Serena began in an acrid voice, "I was majorly enjoying myself... with this very nice boy." Darien frowned at the young man who tried hard not to look as if he wanted to crawl under a rock.

'I doubt I could take him...' Dave worried, 'Man... Who is this creep?'

"And why are you with HIM?"

"I'm dating Dave here if it's any of YOUR business, buster," Serena answered smoothly, which made her companion's heart soar. It abruptly fell from the heavenly heights as man's frown deepened.

"But he's out of your age range," Darien warned tightly.

Dave blinked and gave Serena a hard look. 'Oh no... I have got to get glasses or something. She's his age!' He rubbed his eyes and sighed dejectedly. "No wonder I didn't see you at my school..." 'She must go to his college.' She didn't hear him. He gazed at her wistfully.

"You don't have any say in whom I see, Darien."

"You can't date him," Darien stated again.

"Why... not?!" the meatball-headed blonde demanded, hands on her hips.

"Because you're my girlfriend." The knots of people around the trio stopped what they were doing at the sound of a solid slap landing.

"Maybe," Serena hissed in a deadly voice, "That'll jog your brain! WE SPLIT UP!" Breathing hard, she settled herself slightly and turned to Dave. "Thanks for showing me around, Dave. I should really go though. I need to smooth things over with Mina and I need to talk to my cousin." She gave her ex-boyfriend one more hard look, and then marched with as much dignity as she could.

"Um..." Dave began sheepishly, eyeing Darien, "You broke up with her?"

"Yeah," Darien confessed. He turned and walked away muttering, "Stupidest thing that I've ever done. But now, she'll be safe."

- - - - -

After permitting herself to pout for a while, Mina pulled herself together and made her way back to the booth. She fully intended to be her normal bright and cheerful self. After all, it was just one guy and there were plenty of other fish in the sea. She even considered that she could be nice to Serena, given enough time, but was a little disappointed when her princess friend failed to be at the expected spot.

Instead, the beribboned blonde found a crowd, and two girls desperately in need of another set of hands. She pushed her boy troubles aside for the moment and entered the booth trying not to get in the way of Amy who seemed to be fighting with her clothing while trying to package a large order of cookies at the same time. The blue-haired girl was looking different somehow but Mina put it down to the ill-fitting robes.

Lita, on the other hand, seemed to be taking her current regressed condition in stride; she was being cheerful to everybody. "Hi Mina! Get your hands busy. Our booth..." 'And my cookies...' "...is a hit."

"Sorry, I took so long, guys," the Sailor Scout of Venus replied while moving to take one elderly woman's order. "I, as second in command, will lead you into the fray!" Mina struck a dramatic pose. "Let not the cookie crumble but turn into a lining of silver."

Lita, Amy, and the booths patrons stared at Mina for a moment but then Lita just rolled her eyes and muttered, "Whatever."

"At least you're here," Amy replied, sounding off. "I need to take a break and do something about these robes." She tugged at her clothing again. "Now if Serena would show up..." 'I'm glad I didn't have a lot to drink or my molars would be floating.'

"Hey guys, where'd my robes go? I set them here when I left..." Mina started hunting for her robes only managing to impede her companions in their work.

"Don't worry about that now, Mina. Just help," Amy commanded.

"Okay," Mina agreed, straightened, and brushed her dress smooth.

Lita frowned. "You should've worn something different, Miss Second-in-Command... That dress makes you look like a kindergartner." The Sailor Scout of Venus stuck her tongue but then giggled.

"At least, I'm not the same size as one," Mina shot back while giving her formerly tall friend a pointed look, then patting her gently on the head. Lita giggled. "And besides," Mina tossed her hair back with a flourish, "My radiance has grown with each passing day until I outshine my patron goddess Venus herself."

"Oh brother..." Amy mumbled.

- - - - -

Reenie sat quietly in the corner pondering what she was going to do. It appeared more and more as if she'd be sent home, especially considering that she couldn't think of a single reason why she should get to stay, at least that her cousin was likely to believe. She had planned things to turn out far differently.

Her stomach tightened as she heard the door open and glanced cautiously over her shoulder. The youngster felt her stomach relax as she recognized Amy. The blue-haired girl came into the room muttering under her breath and tugging at her robes.

"I'm going to kill these things!" Amy uncharacteristically snarled as she yanked the robes off, "My chair's sinking, I'm being swallowed by a set of Shinto robes, and I think that I'm coming down with a cold. On top of that, the rest of the help isn't around!"

Reenie watched Amy surreptitiously, not sure if she should tell the normally shy girl that she was here or not. 'She looks...' The seven year old narrowed her eyes and looked again. 'Is she gettin' littler?' The more the little girl regarded the genius girl, the more she was convinced that something was not quite right about her.

The little girl's musings were cut short when Amy muttered something that made the child's ears go pink. "I don't believe this. Even my normal clothes are loose. What's going on?" Reenie fidgeted nervously in the corner as Amy started rooting in her overnight bag. The ringing of her cell phone interrupted Amy's searching. She growled as she had to dig in her pocket for it. "Hello?"

"Amy?" Amy's mother asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, of course, Mother," Amy said, trying to sound chipper.

"Sweetie, I don't know when I'll be able to make it over..." Her mother sounded regretful.

"That's okay," the blue-haired teen replied, "We're up to our eyeballs in people and it'll likely get worse as we get closer to midnight. Why don't you just go straight home when you're done and I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course," Amy replied, trying to make herself sound cheery.

"Amy, maybe you should come home. You sound like you are congested."

"I'm okay. Really, Mother, it's just a bad connection."

"Well then, I'll see you tomorrow, dear. Goodnight."

"'Night, Mother, and happy New Year," Amy responded and then hung her phone up. "Something's not right..." Tossing the cell phone on the bed, the Sailor Scout drew forth her transformation pen. "MERCURY STAR POWER!" she called and in a flash of brilliant magical light, she was transformed into Sailor Mercury. Materializing her VR visor over her eyes and pulling her minicomputer out of its subspace pocket, she started scanning herself.

"Interesting... I'm not detecting any diseases. No signs of flu or colds. Good, I wouldn't want to infect the others." She frowned. "That's odd... My mass has decreased by 15.65 percent. That's well outside the standard deviation for..."

"I thought you looked smaller," interjected a voice. Mercury yelped and whirled around to find Reenie staring intently at her. "Sorry, Amy," the little girl apologized, her face reddening as she flushed, "Didn't mean to scare ya."

"That's all right, Reenie," Sailor Mercury assured her. "I didn't see you there. When did you enter the room?"

Reenie's face turned a deeper red as she blushed and admitted, "I've been in here since you came in. Serena... uh... put me in the corner." She was grateful the older girl didn't inquire further. "So what's the problem?"

"I seem to be losing mass..." Mercury got a thoughtful look on her face. "I wonder if this is the same condition..." she trailed off, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

"So you aren't the same size and your stuff doesn't fit?" Reenie guessed, apparently to get Amy's train of thought back on the current situation rather than the cause.

"That's correct," Mercury agreed, "And I suspect the other clothes I've brought will not fit me either."

"Luna Ball can help," Reenie replied with a grin. "Do you want me to make you some clothes, Amy?"

Mercury looked startled for a moment. "It can do that?"

"It can do anything!" Reenie declared and then amended in a softer tone, "Well almost..." And then silently to herself, she added, 'It can't get me out of trouble... Traitor.'

"Well, let me change back," Mercury said and without further hesitation, she transformed back into her loose clothing.

The youngster for her part gave the door a nervous look and then went over to retrieve Luna Ball from its location on the bed. Bouncing it, she gave it one hard smack to send the cathead-shaped sphere into the air and called out, "LUNA BALL KITTY MAGIC!"

In a puff of pink smoke, clothing started to gather on the floor. A pair of blue socks, a deep green sweater, white shirt, bluejeans and a yellow hairband, along with some undergarments of appropriate size and color. Amy was interested in the garments, after inspecting them, quickly removed her ill-fitting clothing, and changed into the magically produced garb.

"Well?" Reenie asked a hopeful expression on her face.

"They fit!" Amy declared, beaming with happiness, "It's so nice to have something that fits tonight!" She went over and gave Reenie a hug. "Why don't you come help us?"

"I can't," Reenie informed her, "Serena gave me a timeout." 'And I can't push her any farther.'

"Oh... Sorry, kiddo, this is great. You really helped me." Amy gave the younger girl a serious look. "How about I go talk with Serena for you?"

"No," Reenie replied and then wrinkled her nose, "I have to." That is what a big girl would do. She sighed as Amy patted her on the head in a sympathetic fashion, thanked her once more, and left the room, leaving behind her oversized clothing and Shinto robes. 'Wow, Amy looks like she could go to my school.'

A handful of heartbeats later, the door reopened and Serena came into the room. Reenie felt her stomach sink to somewhere about her knees. The little girl watched with growing worry as Serena sat down on Raye's bed and gave her a long look before saying softly, "Come here, Reenie." Reenie did so letting Luna Ball go in the process. It took up a floating position behind her, as if trying to offer her moral support.

When the youngster reached Serena, she opened her mouth and was about to launch into a plea to stay when the blonde raised a hand to stop her. "I was wrong to treat you like a little kid."

Reenie felt her jaw dropping open as her eyes widened. "Huh?!" Was about the extent that she could get in her speech; she was so surprised.

Serena smiled a little. "I thought it would be fun to hold hands but I shouldn't have forced you to do it."

"Yeah!" Reenie replied, nodding her head and looking stern, "Or pick me up."

"Or pick you up," Serena agreed. "I guess that I was a little worried about you though. I mean what if the Negaverse attacks?" That question completely took the wind out of Reenie's sails and she began feeling bad again. "I'm disappointed in you though. You promised Mom that you'd be on your best behavior. I know you don't think that I'm cool like Darien but I thought you'd keep your promise to her." The youngster shuffled her feet and hung her head. Serena put an elbow on her knee and rested her chin in her hand. "I thought we were gonna have fun together."

Reenie peeked up at Serena who was looking a little down. "Are ya gonna send me home?"

"What do you think I should do?"

"I don't know." The girl hooked her index fingers together and twisted them. "I guess..." She squirmed and then asked, "Why didn't you wanna go see Darien?" The youngster looked up as Serena put both her hands on her shoulders.

"Sweetheart, Darien and I aren't getting along at the moment. He... he doesn't want to be around me." The pink-haired girl was a little upset when she saw the blonde's eyes mist over. For a moment, Reenie thought Serena would cry but the older girl only shook her head, sat up straight, and shrugged. "So are you going to keep your promise to Mom?" The seven year old nodded rapidly; Serena smiled at her. "Well, short of you taking the Silver Crystal again, I don't think you could do anything that would get you sent home." The blonde continued after a moment of silence, "That doesn't mean I'm gonna let you have the run of the place, young lady."

"I know..." The youngster mumbled, "I'm sorry."

"That's okay..." Serena rolled her shoulders and sighed. "Man, this is getting tight."

Reenie's eyes went wide and she stared at her cousin for a moment. 'She sorta looks like Mommy...' That thought made her feel a little sad. 'Serena is nice... and she is Sailor Moon.' More as a way of making a peace offering as anything else Reenie asked, "Do you want a hug?" Serena slowly smiled and nodded so the little girl climbed into Serena's lap and wrapped her arms about the blonde's neck. She snuggled closer as Serena hugged her in return. After a moment, Serena allowed the hug to fall away and she shifted.

"What is it with these clothes?" the blonde complained. "It's like I had a major growth spurt or something..."

"Um..." Reenie began and then paused. When her cousin gave her a curious look, she started in a more cautious tone, "Amy said she was gettin' littler. Her clothes were too big."

"When," Serena began in a mildly stern tone, "Was Amy here?"

"Just before you came in."

"So you were talking to her while you were in a timeout?"

Reenie winced but offered quickly, "She was having lot of trouble with her clothes. They were too big. It'd be like me wearing Lita's." Serena's eyes went wide at that image. "See, so I sorta offered to have Luna Ball make some for her and they fit." And then deciding it couldn't hurt anything, she continued, "Amy wanted me to come and help but I said you had put me in a timeout so I couldn't." The little girl was relieved when Serena gave her an approving look.

"Well, young lady, do you think Luna Ball can do the same for me?" Reenie nodded. "Make with the hocus-pocus and then, we'll both go help out at the booth."

- - - - -

"Girls, we need to formulate a plan of action," Amy announced as the tide of customers ebbed for a moment.

"Yeah..." Mina asked while looking down at her dress. With her relative lack of feminine curves, even she had to admit that it no longer had the effect she had hoped for. 'I wish Reenie was here. She could make me a new dress.' She frowned then made a quick comparison. 'Do I really look that young? I'm bigger than both of them are.'

"Yeah, but what's the question?" Lita asked.

"Do we close down or stick it out?"

"Guys, I vote stick it out," Lita interjected. "I'm having too much fun!"

"I agree. Closing now is bound to cause problems. It's not like we're having trouble." Mina fluffed her hair up. "Besides with me around, no one will think that you CHILDREN are unsupervised."

"Oh?" both younger looking girls asked dangerously.

"Of course, my young friends... I'm a good baby-sitter and..." Mina trailed off and frowned as Lita snorted derisively. She stepped towards the small brunette and loomed over her. "Got a problem?"

"You ain't so grownup, blondie."

"Says you. I am only experiencing SLIGHT asset loss..." Mina remarked pointedly while throwing out her chest with its small but definite curves. "Unlike some..." She tapped Lita on the nose. "I'm not in any danger."

"Yet..." Amy remarked dryly. 'I'd estimate fifteen minutes.'

"Jeez, you're sure being a gloomy Gus, aren't you?" the ponytailed brunette asked of her blue-haired friend.

"My clothes are starting to get larger again... I believe that we are all still regressing." Amy frowned and then shook her head. "And Mina, I would not recommend trying to use your larger stature to enforce your will upon us."

"Amy! I... I wouldn't do that!" the blonde protested. She wasn't that kind of person. Little Carrie would attest to that. "But just out of curiosity, why not?"

"Lita can still transform and I shudder to think what a 'Sparkling Wide Pressure' attack would do to your hair." The ribbon-wearing blonde blinked and then paled.

"I'd look like a demo of a static charge machine." She grinned nervously at the Jovian Scout. "Sorry."

"Not a problem, girlfriend," Lita replied with a grin and then hugged Mina.

"You're taking this awfully well."

"I'm sure that Ames and Raye will figure it out." 'They always do.' Amy wasn't so sure but Lita's confidence would make her redouble her efforts. "Like I said though, I'm having fun being a kid again."

"I guess that would be okay..." Mina remarked a thoughtful look on her face, "And I suppose we SHOULD act like we are the age we look like."

"Okay... But if we pretend to be our apparent physical ages... What will we do if someone requests a parental unit?" Both Lita and Mina stared at Amy in confusion. Before the Sailor Scout of Mercury could offer clarification, things got busy once more.

- - - - -

A short time later, Serena Tsukino slowly pivoted so that her cousin could look her over. "Well?" The pink-haired girl gave her well-aged cousin a critical look while chewing on her bottom lip. "What's the matter?" Serena asked. She looked down at the clothes Luna Ball had generated and then back up at the little girl.

'Why did Luna Ball make her something like that?' the youngster wondered, only vaguely aware of Serena's question. 'She could be Mommy... sort of.' The clothing the magical floating ball had chosen was simple, yet elegant. No one would mistake Serena for a teenager.

"Reenie?"

"Sorry," Reenie commented while shaking her head, "You look pretty." She smiled as her cousin smiled. "Let's go help Amy and Lita." Serena nodded and headed for the door. The youngster scampered after her squeezing past her in the doorway. "Should we take some robes?"

"No, I think they'd just get in the way." 'I hope Mina's back from sulking.' Serena glanced at her watch. "Twenty minutes until midnight." Her cousin blinked and moved close so she could look at Serena's watch. "You gettin' tired?"

"Nope!" Reenie chirped and then added, "Let's go help!"

The duo walked rapidly towards the booth but slowed as they realized the size of the crowd, which had flooded the Cherry Hill Temple grounds. As they got closer to the cookie booth, they could hear what sounded like a disturbance.

"I WANT TO TALK WITH YOUR MOTHER!" a rather rotund woman practically shrieked. Her girth would likely make any mountain jealous.

"What's..." Reenie began as she came into the back of the booth but came to an abrupt stop upon seeing three young girls. She recognized the smallest as Amy. The clothes that she had made her were already getting loose. It took Reenie a little longer to connect the ribbon-wearing blonde with Mina. The Sailor Scout of Venus looked like a fourth-grader.

It took Reenie a few moments to connect the skinny brunette before her with Lita. What gave her the clue was her distinctive ponytail. The youngster was momentarily confused why Lita, who looked about the same size as her, except skinnier, was wearing clothes that fit. Then it struck her. "Hey! You're wearing my stuff!"

Serena, who had followed the seven year old into the booth, looked about her in shocked bewilderment. She had been expecting Amy to be slightly different in appearance, thanks mainly to Reenie's description of the blue-haired girl's clothing issues. The meatball-headed blonde had not expected Lita or Mina to be so dramatically effected as well.

Even before she could comment on the surreal scene playing out before her, the woman who had been shouting demanded of Serena, "Are you this child's mother?!" She jabbed a finger towards Lita.

Before Serena could answer either way, Lita piped in, "Don't listen to her, Mommy!" The brunette tried hard not to grin as Reenie's head whipped around so she could stare at Lita, mouth agape. "Wow, you're pretty!" The new youngster ran over and gave Serena a hug around her legs.

'Serena is taller and more developed,' Amy noted clinically and then blinked. 'This is most unexpected.'

"What are you doing, Lita?" Serena inquired in bewilderment.

"I'll tell you what she's doing!" the woman yelled. "YOUR little girl is being disrespectful of her elders."

"I just said, MO-OMMY," Lita began with twinkling eyes, "That since she took a big ol' bite of the cookie, that she couldn't get no refund just 'cause she don't like it."

"It was disgusting!"

"Reenie," Serena instructed firmly, "You stay and help Mina and Amy. Lita, come with me." She regarded the woman. "Madam, let's step to the side so the rest of the customers can make their purchases." The blonde wasn't sure the barrel of a woman would move but was relieved when she did. She disappeared around the corner.

"What are you doing?" she asked her little friend in a hushed voice.

Lita just grinned. "Serena... You're older! We were worried you'd be small too." She giggled as the former teen now woman frowned. She stood on her tiptoes and continued in a quiet voice, "Okay, here's the four-one-one. That fat hag's been yelling for my mom. You're a perfect fit... in a way."

"Hummm..." was Serena's reply. She then motioned Lita to follow her. The pair left the booth and rounded the corner to find the woman standing, arms crossed, and a scowl on her face. "I would like to understand what happened. You made a purchase and found something wrong with it?" The woman nodded, her scowl not moving an inch. "What was the problem?"

"As I said, it was disgusting!"

"Says you, lady!" Lita shot back, facing growing red. She was tired of this woman insulting her cooking.

"And then, YOUR daughter had the nerve to tell me I was too fat to appreciate it!"

Serena glanced towards Lita but she couldn't gauge the girl's expression in the shadows beside the booth. "So you asked for your money back?"

"I most certainly did!"

"Ma'am, you do realize that that we are selling these cookies to raise money for the Cherry Hill Temple?" The woman grunted. "And by wanting a refund, you are denying the temple your donation."

"It's not a very impressive temple... I heard the priest who runs it is a dirty old man." The woman sniffed.

Serena placed a hand on the little brunette beside her who had stiffened at the words of the woman. "Lita, get the lady her money."

"But Mommy, this..."

Serena bent down and looked right into her friend's eyes. 'Plan huh? We'll see about that.' "I spank sassy little girls, y'know." Lita's eyes widened.

"But..." The brunette's eyes held Serena's for a moment and then lowered.

"Lita..." Serena stated firmly but gently, "Get the woman her money. I'll replace it out of my own pocket."

Grumbling, the child stomped off and returned a few moments later with some money. "Here," she huffed, shoving the money towards the large woman. The woman snatched it and rapidly counted it.

"Good. Now what about her?" the woman questioned.

"What about Lita?"

"Are you going to let her talk to me like that?"

"How I settle this is between me and... my daughter." She regarded the younger girl. "Isn't that right, Lita?"

"Yeah..." the brunette agreed, although reluctantly.

"Go on back," Serena directed. "I wanna few private words." Lita did so, although not before giving the former customer a dirty look.

- - - - -

"What happened to you?" Reenie asked as Lita came back into the booth. Before Lita could respond, she turned and declared, "There ya go."

"Thank you, young lady," an elderly man responded and shuffled away, sweets in hand.

"It's pretty simple. I woke up from my nap and I was like this," Lita explained while squeezing in between Reenie and Mina.

"But what caused it?"

"Who knows," Lita shrugged. "What would you like?" she asked a teenage boy.

"One of each," he answered.

'My cookies...' Reenie began but a group of giggling sixth-grade girls appearing together disrupted her train of thought.

"So, how are things going?" Serena asked.

"Did you give her what for, MOMMY?" Lita asked Serena hopefully.

"Lita... you and I need to talk," Serena growled.

Reenie winced. She'd heard that tone before. "Man... You're in SO much trouble!" she commented to Lita who started to look mildly worried. Serena shot Reenie a frown but didn't say anything.

"Not until we're done here, Auntie Serena," little Amy spoke up and turned back to a young couple, "That'll be five even, sir."

"Yeah, Mommy, it's just too busy," the preteen Mina agreed with a grin. "Right, little sis?"

Reenie for her part just shook her head in disbelief; things were starting to get very weird. 'Are they nuts wanting Serena as their mommy? I thought they wanted to have fun tonight...' The pink-haired girl shot her cousin a quick look. 'Well, Serena can be fun...'

- - - - -

Raye Hino handed a charm to Mrs. Wolanski and smiled. The woman was older and smaller than Raye's grandfather was. She had been coming to the temple regularly since Raye could remember. The husband wasn't much taller than his wife was. "Shall we go, dear?" Mr. Wolanski asked his wife.

"Yes," she replied taking his arm, "The night is young and we have lots of pep left." She smiled at Raye. "So do you have a beau?"

Raye blinked. "Err... not yet."

Mrs. Wolanski tsked softly, "Well... Don't waste time, young lady. We're celebrating our eighty-first wedding anniversary tonight." She turned away from Raye, who was staring in stunned disbelief, and continued, "Come on, dear, let's go find a party to crash!" And with that, the elderly couple wandered off into the crowd.

'I don't believe it,' Raye thought to herself as she handed out a charm to a young couple. 'At least things are quiet... so far.' The shrine maiden was more than a little relieved to have things going so well. She hadn't been able to check in on Serena and the others since her turn around the grounds as Sailor Mars. Nevertheless, she knew her friend Amy (at least) was responsible and would keep the others in line. She frowned as Darien appeared in front of her.

"What do you want?" she asked him, the hint of frostiness coming into her voice. 'I can't believe I burned a torch for this creep.'

"Is that any way to treat a paying customer?" Darien asked, trying to sound pleasant, "I want a charm."

"You are not a customer..." Raye disagreed but then shook her head. "Okay, I don't have time... What type of charm?"

"A general good luck one?"

"Going after ANOTHER girl, eh?" the priestess asked as she starting hunting for a good charm.

"No... Maybe give me good luck to apologize to Serena."

Raye's hand froze. "What for?" the raven-haired girl questioned, her eyes narrowing. Her naïve friend didn't need her heart broken again.

"For spoiling her date."

"Date?!" Raye screeched, her eyes going wide.

"She was on a date with some high school kid... and I... um... sorta broke it up."

"That was stupid."

Darien rubbed his cheek where Serena had slapped him. "Hmmm..." 'You have no idea.'

End of Chapter 4

Coming next in Chapter 5 - Fireworks