"Where have you been?" Bloom challenged. Serena raised her eyebrows.

"What are you, my mom? Didn't you get my message? I said I'd gone out to visit someone!"

"Well where exactly did you go?" Stella had her hands on her hips.

"Uh, no offence but why should that be any of your business?" Serena narrowed her eyes. "Last time I checked this place was a free dimension!"

"The point is that it's too dangerous for you to go out on your own!" Bloom cut in. "Ms Faragonda told us that Baltor might come after your power and it's our mission to protect you!"

"Uh…" Serena racked her brains for a good comeback. Why oh why did the anecdote of epic pwnage have to remain a secret? "…I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm a big girl now, and I can take care of myself! Besides, I got all the bodyguard I need…right here!" She grabbed Luna and held her up in front of her. The cat gave a small yowl in slight incredulity.

"Erm unless that cat is secretly a fairy in disguise I doubt she'll be much help in battle." Tecna remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ooh!" Serena kept her lips tightly sealed. Yet another of her secrets had been unwittingly stepped on. Luna put on her most wide-eyed innocent look.

"We're just trying to help Serena! I hope you can understand that," Flora moved over to the girl anxiously. Catching her eye Serena sighed, even if the others weren't exactly respecting her privacy she couldn't stay mad at the nature fairy, whom she sensed had a genuine kindness to her, not unlike her own.

"I know Flora, but seriously this is starting to turn into one of those horror stories where the person isn't allowed to go outside and is trapped by the others!" It was true, Serena hated situations where someone was never allowed freedom by their peers so that they could be cruelly used for the schemes of others, and she had even met people whom it had happened to.

"We didn't say you couldn't go out, you just can't go out on your own!" Musa said, as if this was not such a bad thing. "But you can always hang with us!"

"Hmm, ok." Serena rested her cheek on top of Luna's head with an unhappy sigh as she held the cat in her arms. "I'm going to the bathroom, if you'll allow it."

With that she silently walked past the group of girls, who all looked in her direction as she did so.

"Well I think she took that ok!" Stella turned back to the others happily.

"What do you mean?" Bloom exclaimed. "Baltor nearly destroys another realm today and she runs off by herself? We should have found out where she was going! It's like she's not taking this seriously!"

"I'm sure she'll come round eventually!" Tecna patted her shoulder. "After all she's not used to Magix yet, and we can teach her how to defend herself!"

"That's a great idea!" Layla brightened. "I wonder if she knows any water magic?"

"Hey, why don't we have a slumber party tomorrow?" Musa suggested. "It'd be great for our first night of guardian duty!"

"Now that's more like it!" Stella cheered. "Plus I could show her a few more hairstyles! The meatball hair's…different and everything but the novelty might wear off soon!"

000

Surprisingly the following school day seemed to pass by rather slowly and uneventfully, at least for Serena. She did get to sit with Mirta again during history of magic, who introduced her to a few of her friends after the class, including Priscilla, Francis and Alice. Other than that it was mostly spent trailing after the Winx as they nattered about their boyfriends. Apparently prior to Serena's arrival a princess the Lunarian could only describe as goldilocks had tried to steal Sky from Bloom. Oh she had a name, but it sounded kinda weird, Jasper? Jaspro? It didn't matter; Sky had seen the error of his mind controlled ways and was now back with Bloom. Personally Serena believed that her own prince was more handsome than theirs but that was just her opinion. Although she was happy to discover that Musa's relationship with Riven was improving, thanks to her advice; it was always a great feeling to help people.

When the evening finally came, the Moon Princess wearily trudged into the dormitory with the rest of the winx. She looked slightly disheveled from the last period, which had involved having to wrestle with a man-eating flytrap. At least Flora had been her lab partner for that or she was sure she would have come out of that class with more than just grass stains on her front.

"What a day!" She sighed. She was just about to collapse on the carpet when a sudden realization renewed her with fresh energy.

"That's right! The live chat's tonight!" She remembered happily, before turning to the six fairies in the room.

"Hey guys? I'm afraid you're gonna have to excuse me as I promised my friends I'd talk to them tonight!" She explained, sporting a cheesy grin.

The girls all exchanged looks. "Er, well we were going to have a slumber party here! Would you like to come later when you're done?" Bloom said eventually.

"Oh…ok. Well I'm kinda gonna be a while but if there's any pizza left over you can leave it out for me, 'kay?" The blonde replied. A slumber party did sound like fun, but she was worried that if she spent too much time with these girls she was bound to let something slip about her secret identity, which was a definite no-no. Besides, she would always choose her best friends in the cosmos over anybody!

"Hmph! Alright but starting tomorrow you have to tell us exactly where and when you're going every part of the day!" Stella said, crossing her arms indignantly. "And you also have to include every article of clothing you wear, when you walk around Alfea you represent us and I won't have anyone making my style look bad!"

Serena rolled her eyes in irritation. "Jeez, don't ask for much do you? What is this, the Spanish inquisition?"

Suddenly jarring chords sounded at a deafening volume as three men in flowing red robes burst in the doorway.

"NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISTION!" The leader shouted with a heavy dramatic flair.

"Huh?" The six fairies held the same look of extremely bewildered confusion. Serena took this opportunity to make a divebomb for her bedroom and flew inside in one liquid motion, slamming the door behind her.

000

Having hauled her laptop into the spacious bathroom (She wasn't forgetting her bedroom also belonged to Stella and its privacy could be thrown out the window at any time) Serena turned on her skype. She beamed at the sight of four familiar faces each in a corner of the screen.

"Girls!" She exclaimed happily. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you!"

"It looks like someone's been busy!" Lita had noticed the stains on Serena's shirt.

"Ugh, tell me about it! But how's it been going? I'm dying to know!"

Raye raised an eyebrow. "How about you go first? You've been hinting like mad that you've been up to some crazy trouble!"

"We'll get to that when we get to that," Serena hushed, waving her hands. "Trust me, but can't you guys go first?"

"Oh, ok, my course is going really well!" Ami decided to start. "I've met some really nice people and I'm almost always top of the class!"

"Wait, what do you mean almost always?" Lita's eyes narrowed, something wasn't right about that sentence.

"Wait a sec, is that a blush?" Mina had noticed the slight shade of pink Ami had turned.

"Ooh, did you meet someone special?" Serena joined in on the action.

"Well…" Ami began. "You remember Greg?"

"Yeah!" Serena, Raye and Lita nodded in unison. "No," Mina began but then stopped to think. "Oh, yeah! The psychic boy! I always thought you made a cute couple!"

Choosing to ignore that last remark Ami decided to continue. "Would you believe he's doing the same course? He told me that he had a vision I'd be attending as well!"

"So he can still see the future?" Serena asked.

"Not so much as before, but sometimes he gets a small inkling of minor incidents. But we've explored the city a few times with some of our new friends; the city looks really striking when lit up at night! But enough about me, how have you girls been?"

"Well I'm doing pretty good too!" Lita grinned.

"You're on that cooking course, right?" Raye said knowingly. "I hope you've been saving some snacks for us!" Serena cut in.

"Sorry Serena, we always end up eating what we make for lunch!" The brunette sweatdropped apologetically. "But I promise you, when everyone's done with their courses I'll make us all a big picnic so you can all find out how delicious it tastes!"

"Mmm now I'm hungry…" Serena and Mina murmured in unison.

"Eugh, they even drool at the same time!" Raye facepalmed at the sight of the two blondes salivating.

"Do you do anything else besides cook?" Ami wanted to know.

"Hmm, there was this guy who came in to talk to us about wine tasting…" Lita recollected.

"WINE?" Mina shrieked loudly. "Why didn't you tell me about this course? I didn't know there was wine partying involved!"

"Would you rather take getting drunk over having some screentime in a movie?" Raye's snide remark hastily shut her up.

"I'm actually missing some first aid lecture so I can be here right now." The princess of Jupiter continued. "But I've learnt plenty about that in my time so I don't think I'm missing anything!"

Elsewhere in a large kitchen-like studio a group of students were seated at a long table, grimacing at the grotesque images in the first aid booklets that had just been handed out. A woman with no eyebrows and wild orange hair that seemed to be moulded into a shape stood at the head of the table.

"Alright, let's start." She said briskly. "Don't lie back on the sofa after drinking too much; you will die. Don't drive a motorcycle; you will die. If your friend falls off a motorcycle and his back looks funny don't leave him to call for help; he will die and you will live with the knowledge that you have killed your friend. If you choke on a bit of toast you will die. If you give someone the Heimlich maneuver you will break his or her ribs. Any questions?"

The students stared at her with wide eyes, clearly too traumatized to speak.

"Good. Now let me show you a video of a guy who was dead for four minutes before some lifeguards gave him CPR."

"If anyone needs that kind of course it's Serena!" Raye smirked.

"Hey! I take offence to that!" Serena stuck out her tongue.

"Still not got over your fear of onions then?" The onyx haired shrine maiden shot back.

"It was an allergy!" Serena shot her a withering look. "Soo, the last time we spoke you told me your Grandpa was running martial arts classes again!" She quickly changed the subject.

After Raye's temple stories, including sealing a dangerous monster into a trading card with the help of some old friends visiting the area it finally came to Serena's turn.

"Wait wait wait," The Moon princess held up her hands to confirm what she had just heard. "You had to do WHAT to the Dark Magician?!" She covered her mouth, as she felt a bit queasy. "Damn that must've been painful!"

"It wasn't Yugi's dark magician! It was the creepy janitor's dark magician!" Raye sighed. "Were you even listening?"

"It's amazing, the different kinds of people that game attracts!" Lita remarked, looking up at the ceiling.

"Ooh tell me about it!" Mina cut in. "You still haven't heard about what happened with…"

"Guys! What about Serena's news?" Ami cleared her throat.

"Oops! Sorry! Hehehe…I'm listening!" Mina shook her head hurriedly. "C'mon already!"

"Uh, ok here goes," Serena gulped, sucking in a huge breath. She then embarked on recollecting everything that had happened since she had left Japan, including meeting the 6 famous fairies, receiving the Lunar book from the Queen of Solaria, visiting the other Sailor Scouts and fighting off Baltor. She also told them about her quest for the Enchantix because apparently it would help her become Queen and create Crystal Tokyo, she still wasn't exactly sure herself for some parts. She did flush with pride at Mina's awed expression as she described in detail how she had pwned this supposedly dangerous dark wizard.

"…And now the winx are trying to stalk me cuz they think I'm a wuss who can't fight, I don't know, but then they were distracted by the Spanish inquisition and I escaped and am now here talking to you." She finished.

Everyone blinked at her in stunned silence for a good few moments.

"It's like trouble always comes looking for you, huh." Was all Mina could say.

"You really weren't kidding?" Lita shook her head.

"Yup!" Serena nodded.

"Ok ok, let's deal with this one at a time," Mina waved her hands in a business-like manner before looking back at Serena. "You saw Reiko and the others? Has Nezu finished with the magazines I leant her? She's had them for a month and I kinda need them back."

"MINA!" The other three Sailor Scouts gaped at her. "That's more important than the new enemy?" Raye demanded.

"Uh, yeah! From what I've heard Serena you took care of it pretty well and besides, compared to all we've faced in the past, he should be easy prey!" The blonde turned to Serena. "Although if he does show up again, send me pictures! You know I'm always looking for new additions to my big bad fail files!"

Serena rolled her eyes. They all knew about the meticulously filed records Mina kept of their biggest victories in battle. Although they all admitted it was fun to look at how badly they'd managed to beat up a youma as it was perfect for boosting morale. There had even been a youma Mina had defeated as Sailor V who was already half dead from a kick before being finished off.

"Hmm," Raye looked troubled. "But seriously, how strong is this guy? Should we pack and go over there?"

"I wouldn't worry about it girls," Serena reassured them. "I've already faced him once and compared to all the other big bads we've faced it was a walk in the park! Certainly nothing worth putting your dreams and goals on hold for!"

"Well if Serena can handle it without help, that must be really saying something!" Lita shrugged.

"Wait a minute," Ami interjected. "You mentioned Reiko telling you about something called the Sailor Alliance. For some reason that sounds familiar…" She broke off as if trying to recollect memories from a previous life.

"Oh that story is wonderful! You have just got to hear it!" Serena gushed happily. She launched into great detail about the inspiring story of the first Queen of the millennia who created the Silver crystal in the universe's first real battle between dark and light. All four of them stared enthralled from their respective screens as she described the beautiful illustrations and the documents she had been shown on the most powerful henshin a Senshi could obtain.

"I guess when we all inherit our kingdoms we'll be reinstated into the alliance." She finished, feeling slightly emotional.

"Wow," Mina gasped. During the whole story she had not once interjected with an inappropriate inside joke. Instead she had taken it in with the rest of them. "That was so beautiful!"

"And the intergalactic Sailor Scouts all have these documents in their palaces?" Ami asked. "I must pay Reiko a visit sometime!"

"So Crystal Tokyo will happen when you two are crowned King and Queen?" Raye repeated to get the facts straight.

"So it would seem, according the laws of time and space. But I still don't know when that's gonna happen." Serena said.

"Well I guess we'll just have to face it when it comes!" Lita spoke. "As a team!"

"And as the deputy leader of this team, I second that!" Mina cheered loudly. "Yeah, nothing can stop the almighty Sailor Scouts and their leader Sailor Moo-"

"Serena?"

"HAAA?" Serena froze as she looked over her shoulder to see Stella in the doorway.

"KNOCK ON MY DOOR! KNOCK NEXT TIME!" She jumped to her feet with a wild shriek, making the Solarian swiftly scamper away. Once she was gone, Serena slammed the door shut and turned back to the screen with a sigh.

"That was way too close!" She glowered at Mina before looking at the others. "Do you think she heard us?"

"I'm not sure, Mina was being pretty loud there!" Raye grimaced.

"Ugh, that's just great, I'm not supposed to let these girls know who I really am!" Serena explained. "That's why it's such a pain having to hang out with them all the time! Not to mention they seem to have deemed me not worthy of the power I need to rule!"

"Hang in there Serena, I know you can do it!" Lita looked sympathetic.

"Yeah! If you can kick some evil wizard butt there's nothing you can't accomplish!" Mina pumped a fist. "And if any of these girls give you trouble just say the word and your top Scouts will sort them out for ya!"

"I do hope it won't come to anything like that!" Ami sweatdropped quietly.

"Don't worry girls, like you said, I can handle it!" Serena smiled, before turning to a certain corner of her screen. The blonde girl in said corner looked taken aback at the four looking expectantly in her direction.

"W-what are you all looking at me for?" Mina spluttered.

"C'mon Aino," Serena smirked knowingly. "Time to fess up those crazy shenanigans you were mentioning earlier!"