Notes: Episode 157: "Pegasus is Gone! Swinging Friendships". Or, "The one where Chibi-Usa meets that kid obsessed with flying bicycles.".

Episode 157

"I wonder what it would be like."

Four heads rolled lazily toward Ami, four sets of blinking eyes now completely fixed on her where before they had been watching the clouds drift overhead. Ami flushed under the attention and shook her head, an adamant denial that sadly did nothing to convince the others that she hadn't spoken.

The refusal only made the need to know explode deep within Minako. "What?" she asked. No answer was immediately forthcoming. She wriggled backward, out of range of the foot that had been calmly and rhythmically tapping the crown of her head, until she was draped over Rei's legs. She tilted her head back to stare fully at Ami, not bothered in the least by this upside-down view of the world. "What?" Minako demanded again. "What, what, what?"

Rei jiggled her knee, interrupting the incessant demand for information and causing Minako's voice to become a warbling mess. Mako and Usagi burst into laughter. Mako laughed, as she tended to, with her entire body, and her stomach – Usagi's pillow –became a trampoline. Usagi could only cackle louder.

Ami tried unsuccessfully to stifle her giggles born from a mixture of her friends' antics, her embarrassment, and the long blades of grass tickling her ears. The laughter gave her courage.

"I wonder what it would be like to fly."

"Breezy," Minako concluded immediately, earning her another jolt in the back from Rei's leg. Without looking away from Ami, Minako flicked Rei's shin.

"I bet it feels fantastic!" Usagi threw her arms up watched her hand sail across the sky then flopped it down with a longing sigh. "Chibi-Usa's friends are so lucky."

Rei chuckled and tipped her head back toward Usagi. "I don't know. They still have to figure out how to land."

"Oooo," the others said in collective sympathy.

"I suppose I don't wonder about that part so much," Ami amended.

By now Minako had slithered halfway over Rei's legs to lean her head against Ami. She seemed entirely comfortable, and if Ami and Rei perhaps weren't quite as fortunate, they kept it to themselves. "Flying would be awesome," Minako said with authority. "You can go anywhere, do anything, and look down on all the lesser people below you."

Mako, arms crossed under her head, cracked open an eye and glanced at Minako. "Sounds like you right now."

"True," Minako agreed easily.

A small flock of birds passed overhead and Rei tracked them with her eyes. "I used to watch the crows all the time when I was younger." Her voice sounded wistful, maybe just a tiny bit sad. "I was sure they had a secret for me, and if I could figure out how to fly, they'd tell me."

"Did you fly?" Minako's question was completely serous.

Rei thought for a moment. "Unconventionally," she said with a smile, "but eventually."

Usagi smiled too, and tapped Rei's head with her toe. "But you tried it literally too, didn't you?"

"Shut up."

"Knew it."

Without looking at Usagi, Rei stuck out her tongue.

Without looking at Rei, Usagi stuck hers out in return.

Minako pressed back against her Ami-style headrest to try and get a better look at her friend from her awkward slouched angle. "So if you could fly, where would you go?"

It was a question Ami couldn't immediately answer. She let her fingers brush over the grass as she carefully considered her options. "Madagascar, maybe? Someplace with fascinating and unique wildlife."

"America for me," Minako said. "Exact same reason."

Usagi reached behind her head and poked Makoto in the side. "How about you, Mako-chan?"

Mako laughed nervously. "Flying? I'll pass."

Usagi's face fell, but before she could apologize, Mako was ruffling her hair.

"Even if it's a flying bicycle?" Minako asked.

It was a point Mako hadn't considered before. "How high does it go?"

Minako shrugged, as well as she could given her posture, and pointed to a relatively small office building in the distance. "About that high?"

Mako raised up on her elbows and studied it carefully. "Hm. I've jumped from about there before. Yeah." She settled back down on the ground, feeling much better. "Yeah, I could do that."

"Excellent!" Minako said, as if this were somehow cementing future plans. "Where are you going?"

The hard part allowed for, Mako didn't hesitate. "France. It's pretty much your first food stop."

"Japan to France on a flying bicycle." It was like Rei had to say it out loud just to emphasize exactly what conversation they were having.

Mako lifted her arm in the air and flexed. "I'll pedal hard."

"Actually," Ami said thoughtfully, "the flying machine Chibi-Usa's friend designed doesn't have any form of propulsion. It's essentially just a glider, and so impossible to—"

Ami's friends all shhh'd her.

Ami obediently shhh'd.

"What about you, Usagi-chan?" Mako asked.

Usagi thought about it for a good long moment. So long, in fact, Minako was sure she'd fallen asleep and was about to tickle her when Usagi spoke.

"Nowhere." She was very firm on the matter. "I have everything right here."

That brought a chorus of happy, agreeing noises.

"Rei-chan?" Usagi prompted.

"Please, like I can go after that." Rei brushed it aside with a wave of her hand. "Next question."

Narrowing her eyes, Minako cocked her head to the side. "Think Chibi-Usa's friends have crashed yet?"

"Probably," Rei replied.

"This has been a weird summer," concluded Usagi, and this, too, was met with mass agreement.