Lita's New Year's Cookie Scramble Chapter 5 Fireworks, 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 5 - Fireworks

Serena Tsukino sat in their cookie booth. She watched silently as a young couple across from her mulled over their choice of the remaining cookies and sighed internally. Taking a moment, she glanced over her shoulder. A blue-haired girl about six years old (to the uninitiated observer) was sitting on a metal chair with her feet dangling over the edge. The girl looked as if she'd like to cry but didn't have the energy for it. Serena really couldn't blame her shy friend though. Being elbowed in the forehead, even accidentally, was bound to hurt. She resisted the urge to go and cuddle Amy. Serena doubted her friend would appreciate the gesture.

The newly grown adult then glanced to her "children"; both Mina and Lita were sitting quietly in separate corners in the back of the booth where she had sent them. The brunette had gone meekly enough. Mina still looked unrepentant. Serena flared her nostrils. 'Mina shouldn't've told Amy that she hadn't seen her because she was so small.'

She stared at the back of the culprit's head adorned with a huge almost comical red ribbon and thought, 'Mina ain't so grownup herself now.' Her friend was definitely prepubescent. Serena had literally needed to pull rank over her professed second-in-command. Said Scout now shifted as if she could feel her princess' intense gaze literally boring into her from behind. 'If she wants to play at being my daughter...' The woman flicked her eyes towards Reenie; the youngster was practicing being invisible.

"Like I just don't know..." the young woman of the couple began. Serena turned back to focus her attention on the customers.

Serena seriously questioned if there was a streak of silly going around this evening. She noticed the young woman's hairstyle. 'I wonder if she's a cheerleader?' She had her brown hair in streaming pigtails and looked like she's might still be in high school. 'Not that they aren't cute but still... They're not half as long as mine.' Serena speculated that maybe she did it at her boyfriend's request. The young man with her looked about Darien's age. 'Just a love-struck schoolgirl I guess.' That raised rather interesting questions about her ex-boyfriend, which Serena firmly pushed away. After all, she was available.

It was a quarter of midnight and the crowd was slowly gathering for the ceremony to herald in the New Year. Grandpa Hino and Chad were on the platform. "I tell you what, guys," Serena interjected after looking at her watch as the couple's indecision persisted, "I'll let you clean us out at a reduced price." She then quickly came up with a reasonable sounding price for her remaining stock.

A couple minutes later, the coeds were walking away satisfied carrying a bag of assorted sweets in hand. Reenie posted up the large "

"Nah, we'll clean up tomorrow."

"So what are we gonna do, Serena?" Mina asked, although not as petulantly as the meatball-headed blonde had expected.

"I thought we'd go watch the fireworks." Mina and Lita brightened.

"Y-you know, Amy... I didn't mean to elbow you," Mina confessed, trying to look as if she were an angel who'd just misplaced her halo. Much to Reenie's annoyance, Mina managed the act better than she herself normally did.

"I know..." the first-grader replied and then yawned, "You wouldn't do it on purpose, Mina."

"I'm sorry..." Mina was looking hopeful, glanced to Lita, and then gave Amy a quick hug.

"Well, now that that's settled, sis," Lita piped up, and looking less annoyed with Mina by the moment, "I think we should find a good spot." She grinned and an instant later had tapped Mina on the nose, making her friend sneeze. "TAG, YOU'RE IT!" And with that, the Sailor Scout of Jupiter ran from the booth sporting a huge grin.

"I'm gonna get you!" Mina shouted and ran after the little ponytailed brunette.

"You sure you're okay, Amy?" The spot on her forehead was still slightly discolored.

"I'm fine, Auntie Sewena," Amy squeaked, a wan smile coming onto her features, "Just tired... My head doesn't ache anymore." The youngster stifled another yawn. "I think I'll pass on the fireworks, Auntie." She giggled. "My new physiology is not up for it."

"Reenie," Serena directed, "You take Amy inside and help her get settled. Maybe into some PJs." The Sailor Scout of Mercury seemed to perk up at this particular proposal.

"Thanks... Reenie can come out and watch the fireworks after she gets Luna Ball to produce some adjusted clothing for me." The six year old slid from the chair, dropped to the ground, and looked down at her clothing. "Even these are starting to get loose."

"That's okay. It's best that Reenie stays with you." The seven year old had expected something like that.

"Okay Serena," Reenie agreed, "Uh... Do I have to go to bed?"

The young woman gave the second-grader an inquiring look and then grinned at Reenie. "No, pumpkin, go on and help Amy. We'll be along in a few minutes."

- - - - -

It took Serena several minutes to catch up with Mina and Lita. She was starting to feel tired, although it was more a blurring of her edges than anything else. During her search, Serena had spotted Raye, and had even considered going over to the shrine maiden to gloat but Chad had appeared. So the meatball-headed blonde had decided not to disturb them.

She only found Mina and Lita when the pair nearly ran into her. "Hi-ee Mommy!" Mina chirped, grinning and then squawked as Lita pushed past her and gave Serena a massive hug around her legs. Apparently not to be outdone, Mina came over and hugged Serena as well.

"What have you two been up to?" Serena asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," Lita assured her and smiled revealing a missing front tooth.

"Yeah, nothing... We're perfect little angels."

Serena snorted, which caused both youngsters to smirk. "I don't wanna know... Well, let's find a place to watch the bell ringing. Looks like Grandpa Hino's giving everything one majorly last check."

"Pick me up, Mommy!" Lita demanded and when the young woman gave her a puzzled look, she added, "I wanna see the fireworks after." Serena gave Lita a dubious expression for a moment and then nodded.

"What about me?!" Mina demanded, although not sounding very disappointed as Serena lifted the seven year old brunette up and settled her onto her shoulders. The irony was not lost on her.

Lita for her part giggled and gently grabbed the pair of meatballs atop Serena's head. It had been a long time since she was small enough to ride upon anyone's shoulders. "Oh, so that's what these are for."

"Should I use Mommy's pigtails as a seatbelt, sis?" the ten year old blonde inquired.

"Don't even think about it, young lady." She only grinned and took Serena's hand instead.

"You okay, Mommy?" Lita asked.

"Yes, just don't shift about up there. You have a bony butt."

- - - - -

Meanwhile, Raye looked up from the neat pile of leftover charms as the first tolls of the temple bell began. She waited for a moment, thinking about the past year, frowned slightly, and then carefully tucked the charms away. She and Chad, mostly Chad, would take down the booth the next day. Stepping out, she carefully stepped into the shadows and withdrew her transformation pen. 'One more turn about the temple. Better safe than sorry.' She waited for the first burst of fireworks to show overhead before speaking the words that would transform her.

Moments later, Sailor Mars quietly and quickly made her way around the Cherry Hill Temple grounds pausing now and then to see if she could sense any evil presence. She was nearing the empty cookie stand as the fireworks climaxed. Thanks to a lot of the trees, some of the fireworks couldn't be seen, but there was enough visible in the clear night sky to elate the assembled spectators.

She paused and couldn't help but smile a little in satisfaction as she saw the "Sold Out" sign hanging on the stand her friends had manned. The Sailor Scout of Mars spent a few minutes within that booth, carefully examining the area for negative auras. She did not sense anything though and the fiery magical girl moved on, unseen by the crowd.

She had briefly considered going to help her grandfather but then thought better of it. Chad was there. She smiled mischievously knowing her sexy teenage curves would only serve to distract the young acolyte. She had no desire to do that tonight.

The raven-haired girl then frowned. 'Did the girls have more help?' If she believed the few snippets of conversation she had overheard, not only were Amy and the others helping but also a pack of Girl Scouts. Cavity inducing ones if Raye believed one particular comment. 'They really shouldn't have conscripted kids to do their work for them. I'll ask them later.'

- - - - -

While Serena was looking for her wayward "children" and Raye was shutting down her booth, Amy and Reenie were preparing for bed. Now Reenie sat upon the closed toilet lid watching Amy with some consternation. The youngster was meticulously washing her face with more precision than was really necessary. 'For a little kid, Amy's way too serious.' She was glad that Aunt Ellen or Serena didn't insist on making her do that.

The blue-haired girl had laid out what she called a "plan of attack" for preparing for bed. The pink-haired second-grader doubted any baby kindergartener would be so meticulous, even she wasn't that precise, and she was older than Amy was now... and a princess to boot.

First had come the toilet and much to Reenie's surprise, the blue-haired youngster had wanted the older girl present, just in case something went wrong. Reenie still hadn't quite figured out what the super genius of the group had meant by that. Amy washed her hands and then started brushing her teeth and now her face.

Reenie sighed a little and gazed towards the ground. 'What went wrong?' she thought to herself, 'This was supposed to be fun.' And while the others were having some fun, she was heartily wishing she could go back in time and redo things over.

"I'm sorry, Reenie, that you couldn't join the others to observe the pyrotechnic exhibition," Amy said softly guessing the little girl's consternation.

The pink-haired girl assumed that meant watch the fireworks. She looked up and gave the younger girl a weak smile. "I know, Amy... but me and Serena, well..." Reenie shrugged, not really sure how to explain. "Being on my best behavior is REALLY hard." Amy grinned.

"You should get ready too."

- - - - -

Sometime later, Amy was feeling moderately better after having prepared for bed, with varying amounts of help from Reenie. Now as she sat in Raye's room looking over the neat pile of clothing Luna Ball had just produced for her, Amy realized that her companion appeared rather mortified.

"What's the matter?" Amy who could now barely pass for a kindergartener asked.

Reenie for her part gave the little girl an apologetic look, and then mutely waved at the clothing. "I don't get what Luna Ball was doing." She gave her floating companion a sour look. She wasn't trying to humiliate her friend.

Amy gave the pink-haired girl a puzzled look, shrugged, and carefully removed the stuffed toy cat, which was resting atop the neatly folded clothing. In rapid order, she changed into a new set of underpants and a set of blue bunny-footed and kitten bedecked girl's size 4T pajamas. The last item was apparently the source of Reenie's consternation because the little girl made a noise of distress and turned several shades of pink.

Amy hugged herself and grinned. "Oh these feel nice!" She giggled and gave Luna Ball a hug. "You do great work. You know that?" she asked the floating cat's head.

"Are you serious?!" Reenie squeaked. The former studious teen was now the epitome of a cute little girl.

"Sure I am, COUSIN," Amy stated quite firmly, "It's not his... her? Anyway, Luna Ball made clothing decisions based on my physiological makeup..." She paused and tapped her lip in thought.

"Phys... Physi-whatsit?" the seven year old inquired, eyes starting to cross as she tried to say the tongue twister of a word. It was disconcerting having a "baby" continually show her up.

By way of reply, Amy pulled out her pen and shouted, "MERCUWY STAR POWER!" And in a flash, she transformed into Sailor Mercury. The pink-haired girl, blinking spots away from her eyes, watched in fascination as Mercury sat down on the floor cross-legged, pulled out her minicomputer, and activated her VR visor.

"What are you doing?" Reenie asked the cute little Sailor Scout.

"I'm twying... trying to localize the effects of our current situation. I also wish to determine why the reactive portion of the incident has had a contra-effect on Sewena's physiology." 'Darn, my old lisp is back.' The older girl's eyes started to glaze as well as cross. Before her brain could do something drastic to save itself, the door opened.

Reenie turned around and watched as a giggling, and rather cheerful looking, Mina skipped into the room twirled about once and then did a cartwheel. "This is GREAT!" she shouted and was about to say more but then noticed Lita charging into the room. "Crud!" Mina exclaimed and took off towards Raye's bed just as Lita was lunging apparently intent on tackling the beribboned girl.

Reenie turned back to see what Amy made of it all but the Sailor Scout of Mercury was busily alternating between tapping at her keyboard and peering intently at her two regressed friends.

Lita for her part missed Mina and landed rather hard on the floor with enough force to knock the wind out of her. "NA! NA!" the ribbon-wearing blonde jeered from her position on Raye's bed, "Lita's a slowpoke!"

The brunette in question raised her head, cupped a cheek in one hand, and said something, which, for once, made Amy's eyes cross. Mina's mouth swung open and she stared at Lita.

"What does..." Reenie began, wanting to know exactly what Lita had meant but wasn't able to finish.

"You be careful, SIS," Mina chided, a smirk coming onto her face, "or Serena will wash your mouth out with soap."

"Oh..." the pink-haired girl remarked, eyes widening and then she frowned, "You're not calling Serena Mommy then?" she questioned Mina who appeared maybe a couple years older than her.

"No way," replied while waving the idea away, "Our princess is a great person and all and I'd follow her into hell but... I have my own parents."

"Who let you get away with murder," the brunette interjected and then grinned as her friend stuck her tongue out. Lita pushed herself into a sitting position, yawned, and rubbed her eyes. "Amy, Reenie, don't listen to her. She just gets away with so much 'cause she's bigger."

"Do not!" Mina shouted and then in a quieter tone added, "I'm just cuter."

"Oh brother," was the brunette's only comment while she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, until I'm back to normal, I'm keeping up appearances."

The Sailor Scout of Venus didn't respond apparently distracted by something. She shifted from foot to foot on Raye's bed and then grinned. "Bouncy!" the little blonde declared and started bouncing up and down on it.

This activity came to an abrupt halt however moments later when Serena entered the room. Serena gave Mina only a mild look of reproof and then asked, "Who wants hot chocolate?"

"Yes pwe-please!" Sailor Mercury responded and with another flash of light changed back to Amy Anderson. She got herself to her feet, looked about for the stuffed toy, and then toddled over to Serena. "I'll help you out, okay?"

"How young are you?" Mina asked, eyes staring intently at the pajama-clad child.

"4.478..." Amy grimaced, "Although it appears that I am still we-regressing."

"Am I?" Mina squeaked in a voice full of horror.

Amy understood that Mina's elbow to her forehead had been an accident. On the other hand, it had hurt. So instead of answering the question, at least right away, Amy hugged the toy animal to her chest, stuck a thumb into her mouth, and in her best little kid's voice asked Serena, "Ken I have a mawshmallow too, Auntie?"

Serena seemed to fight an internal battle for a moment and then shrugged. "You're probably going to kill me later but you're just too cute!" With that, she swept down on Amy and scooped the little girl up into a massive hug. Still holding her, she continued, "So who else wants hot chocolate?"

- - - - -

Sailor Mars gave up her patrol and headed for her room. She would transform back to regular old Raye Hino in her room. Not only would that avoid the possibility of being spotted but also she'd be able to change into better fitting clothes.

Her steps faltered as she approached her room. 'What are they doing?' she wondered as a torrent of high-pitched giggling poured through the door. 'Did that meatball-brain invite those Girl Scouts to spend the night without asking me?' Squaring her shoulders, the raven-haired girl detransformed and marched towards her bedroom, a stern look on her face. Raye was just reaching for the doorknob when the door sprang open and a blond streak came shooting out into the hallway.

An instant later, Raye went down in a tangle of arms and legs, not to mention a liberal amount of surprised squealing. Even before the shrine maiden could sort out who had attacked her, Lita Kino still a child appeared in her bedroom doorway.

"MINA!" Lita shouted, "YOU'RE MINE!"

"M-Mina?!" Raye demanded looking down at the struggling child. She managed to sort out her own arms and legs before a grinning, blue-eyed blond girl not much older than Reenie wearing a big red ribbon smiled up at her.

"Hiya, Auntie Raye!" the girl giggled, gave Raye a somewhat sloppy kiss, bounced to her feet, and promptly vanished down the hall.

"Don't worry, Raye. I'll bring her back," Lita promised. Raye noticed she was younger than the last time she had seen her. "By the way, Happy New Year!" She rushed headlong after the fleeing blonde.

The thoroughly confused priestess looked wildly around until her eyes fell on a blue-haired youngster. It took her a few moments to connect the little girl's features to her bookish friend Amy Anderson. Her eyes widened as the preschooler gave her a wide grin and waved.

"Hi Waye!" Amy greeted her fiery friend.

"What the hell is going on?!" Raye demanded, sitting up and glaring about her, as if hoping a Negaverse creature would appear so she could blast it.

"Don't swear, Raye," admonished a twenty-something woman with long golden pigtails who stepped up behind Amy.

Raye felt her jaw drop in surprise. 'She looks...' "S-Serena?" 'Can't be...'

"You like?" She spun around to give her now shorter friend a look.

"What happened?" Raye asked, standing up and glancing over her shoulder, just in case Mina decided to tackle her again.

"Come inside and we can explain. I'm sure Amy wants to run a scan on you anyway." Amy nodded. As the raven-haired girl staggered into her bedroom trying desperately to figure out what the universe was trying to do to her, Serena turned to a rather normal looking Reenie and commanded, "Go hunt up Lita and Mina and tell them to come back here."

"I don't think they'll listen to me, Serena," Reenie commented from her position against the wall, which she'd taken up when the chase had started.

"Right," the meatball-headed woman remarked, sighed, and then grinned, "You and Raye can watch Amy. I'll go round up my wayward chil..."

"Then hot chocowate?" Amy asked hopefully.

"Well, Raye is here now so yes, I think so."

"YEAH!" both Reenie and Amy cheered.

As the Serena left the room, Raye loomed over her much smaller friend and asked in a very tight voice, "Amy, WHAT exactly has happened?" She was startled when Amy gave a nervous squeak and ran over to Reenie and hid behind the seven year old.

"Oh sure, hide behind me."

"You're talwer than I am," Amy pointed out and then suggested to Raye, "I think you'd better sit down." She was not reassured when her friend instead crossed her arms and started tapping her foot.

'And I thought Serena was scary,' Reenie thought, wishing she had left with her cousin.

- - - - -

Mina and Lita skidded to a stop inside the temple kitchen and covered their mouths as Serena made shushing motions. "You want Grandpa Hino or Chad in here?"

"Sorry," little Lita mumbled out from behind her hand, "It's Mina's fault."

"Why thank you, darling." She curtsied cutely.

Serena rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's get some snacks before Amy comes rushing in here. She sounded like she could eat a horse."

"Okay Mommy," the brunette chirped.

"You know," Serena commented, "Since we're not in public, you can drop the act." It was starting to make her feel old. The youngster pouted. "You can't honestly tell me that you'd majorly want me as your mom."

"Sure, why not?" Mina asked. The ribbon-wearing blonde looked genuinely puzzled. "After all, you have the heart the size of the Moon..." Then grinning, the nine year old blonde amended, "Maybe even the whole universe."

"My big sis wants something," Lita commented dryly and then squealed as Mina poked her in the side, hitting a ticklish spot.

"I'll get the hot chocolate. You gals hunt something up to munch on. I bet Raye will be hungry too since she didn't have a lot of help." Serena walked over and rumpled Mina's hair. "And whatever it is, young lady, the answer is no."

"What makes you think I want anything?" Mina asked.

"I live with Reenie, wheedler extraordinaire. In terms of technique, I'll give you a three out of ten for effort," the woman drawled. Mina pouted and then scowled as Lita giggled.

- - - - -

Ten minutes later, Raye Hino sat glowering at a very diminutive Sailor Mercury. Mercury, who had taken up residence on Serena's lap, was happily munching crackers and cheese and drinking hot chocolate.

"Well?!" the fiery priestess asked.

"Whup?" Sailor Mercury asked, held a hand to forestall any answer, and chewed a moment longer. It certainly wasn't a very healthy snack but frankly, the youngster didn't care, her tummy had been rather hollow. After swallowing, she asked, "What do you want to know?"

"What happened?" She pointed with her index finger at Lita who was sitting to the right of Serena. "She's smaller than before and she..." Here, Raye jabbed her thumb towards Mina who was sitting beside her on the bed. "Has claimed the loony crown."

"Oh goody!" Mina squeaked, "I'm a queen too!" She then, much to the raven-haired girl's annoyance, hugged her, and added, "I dub Raye my extra special court jester."

"I thought court jesters were supposed to be funny," Lita remarked curiously.

"Oh, not in Loony Kingdom," Mina replied seriously, "A court jester in Loony Kingdom must be serious ALL the time and walk around with a big scowl." The cute little blonde wrinkled her forehead into her fiercest of scowls. "They have to also ask, 'CAN'T YOU BE SERIOUS?!'"

Lita and Reenie started giggling. Amy, who'd been trying to finish off her hot chocolate, nearly choked. As it was, she dribbled hot chocolate down her front. She was thankful when Serena presented her with a tissue and she dabbed at the spots on her pajamas. She sighed and looked mournfully at her cup; it was pretty much empty.

"Here," Serena offered, "You can have mine." She'd taken a sip and decided not to bother with the sweet beverage.

"T'anks."

"Look," Raye said with as much dignity as she could, "How old are you?"

"I am curwently 4.112 years old," the blue-haired toddler replied, "Given my analysis of the datum available, I will finish my wegression at age twee plus or minus some weeks."

"And her?" Raye asked jabbing her thumb at Mina who was still making faces. "Honestly, can't you act your age?" Before the ribbon-wearing blonde could reply, Raye corrected acidly, "Your REAL age?"

"Sorry," Mina said, her face smoothing into seriousness.

"Curwently, Mina is 9.261 years old. My projection indicates her wegression should complete shortly and end at just under 9 years old." Mercury tapped a few keys. "Lita's wegression has stopped and is currently physically at 6.989 years of age."

"What about me?" Serena asked, "I think I'm still getting older."

"You are corwect. Sewena is curwently 34.266 years old and progwessing. Your projected final age is 42.3 years."

"Jeez Louise! I'll be older than Mom," the meatball-headed woman muttered.

"Has Reenie been affected?"

"Negative," the blue-haired Scout replied, "She is showing no ill effects."

"Well... I suppose it could've been worse. Thank the Kami that I was not affected too," the priestess commented.

"Um..."

"What?" Raye demanded, eyes narrowing, "There's something you didn't tell me?"

"You aren't going to wike it," Amy commented.

"Spit it out!"

"You have wegressed in age to 12.771."

"WHAT?!"

"I said..."

"I know what you said!" Raye interrupted jumping to her feet. "I mean you can't be right. I wasn't even with you guys all night!"

Mercury swiveled around to regard Serena and remarked, "You know, Waye is scawy."

"Don't worry, pumpkin. Reenie here will save you from big bad Waye."

Reenie turned and gave her cousin an alarmed look. "Me?!" she squeaked, and then in a plaintive tone remarked, "Jeez, Serena, if you wannna punish me... just spank me!" This set Mina and Lita off into a new round of giggles.

The raven-haired girl shot to her feet. "Raye, please sit down so Amy can explain." Looking annoyed, she complied and folded her arms.

"You have wegressed, although not as much," Mercury explained, "You will stop wegwessing at appwoximately twelve. You are corwect though that the data points to a catalyst which we have ALL had direct contact with recently."

"What does that mean?" Reenie asked.

"It means whatever made us de-age was something we all came into contact with."

"Oh..." the pink-haired seven year old remarked and then asked, "So why couldn't Amy just say that?"

"She wouldn't be Amy then," Serena offered and hugged her little friend.

"We must've had contact with whatever it was for varying amounts of time," Raye mused looking thoughtful.

"That was my thinking given our age discr..." Mercury paused, glanced towards Reenie, and amended, "I mean since we are different ages we wikely had different amounts of contact with the source."

"But I didn't pick up any Negaenergy," Raye assured them. "I went around as Sailor Mars after the festival but I didn't sense anything."

"I did not detect any either," Mercury agreed.

"So what did this?" Mina asked, still in serious mode, "And more importantly, when will it end?"

"Well?" Raye asked her blue-haired friend.

"Insufficient data for me to say what did this..." Little Mercury paused, seemed to gather her courage, and continued, "And I don't think it will end."

"WHAT?!" was the shout.

"There is no evidence that this condition is temporary," Mercury clarified.

"It could be," Reenie chimed in.

Mina gave her a suspicious look. "You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?"

"No," the pink-haired youngster denied, "Why would I wanna do something like that to you guys?"

"Because you did before," the Shinto priestess remarked dryly.

"That was an accident," the seven year old argued. "You guys woke up okay." Raye was prevented from retorting by Serena.

"So I'm gonna be stuck old?" Serena questioned and then added, "And what's Lita gonna do?"

"I'll stick with you, MOMMY," Lita answered although some doubt was obvious in her voice. The brunette was reassured when Serena wrapped one arm about her in a comforting hug.

"Is there any way to reverse this? I like totally cannot go through childhood again!" Mina exclaimed. She had been finally to the point where the teen hunks were attracted to her.

"Sorwy, Mina. Until I can determine the cause, I can't devise a solution." Mina slumped.

"I could do a fire reading."

"It's kinda late, isn't it?" Reenie asked. The others looked at her in puzzlement. "I mean... couldn't you do it after breakfast?"

"The sooner we find out the cause, the sooner we can find the solution," Mercury countered.

"You said it, girlfriend...Well, let's go," Mina agreed standing up.

"I think I should do it myself," Raye commented making the others blinked. "Look if Grandpa sees you guys, he's gonna have a hard time understanding what a bunch of little kids are doing here in the middle of the night. And besides..." She regarded Serena. "I don't want him..." 'Or Chad...' "Hitting on the Princess."

"I think Amy should go," Serena suggested. "You are the oldest except me and she's the youngest. That'll give the Great Fire more info."

"It's not like a computer, Meatball Head," Raye remarked sourly but then sighed, "But you do have a point. It'll be easier if I have a focal point other than me." She was a bit amazed that Serena could come up with something logical without help.

"Reenie can go with you to help out. While you guys are doing that, I'll get my DAUGHTERS..." The blonde gestured to Mina and Lita. "Ready for bed."

- - - - -

Reenie Serenity Tsukino shifted uneasily as she sat in the large room housing the Great Fire. Beside her, little Amy was dozing lightly leaning against the older girl. Raye had been stoically sitting in front of the Great Fire for some time.

'Why couldn't they just go to bed?' Reenie thought and shifted, trying to stop her feet from going to sleep.

An eternity later, Raye finally turned to them. The preteen priestess gave the dozing toddler a pointed look. Reenie nudged the little girl who snorted, sat straight, and looked around blearily.

"Is it morning?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"No..."

"Why'd you wake me up then?"

"I found something out," Raye declared. "First, it's not evil... At least, I don't believe it is."

"If it was, you'd know before, right?" the pink-haired girl asked. Raye nodded. "That's good news, right?"

"That depends," the raven-haired preteen replied.

"What did you see, Waye?" Amy asked.

"Cookies."

'Oh crap!' Reenie's thought.

End of Chapter 5

Coming next in Chapter 6 - Crumbs to Danger...