The bright April sun shone joyfully down on Cherry Hill Temple. Usagi sighed unhappily. She was stuck inside with the girls studying. At least Rei had let her open the door to the room they were studying in. The warm breeze brought with it into the room the scent of spring. Leaning away from her books, Usagi tilted back her head and let the sunshine bathe her face in warm light. Closing her eyes, she began to feel very drowsy.

"Usagi!" Rei's voice brought her harshly back from her dream world. "Quit nodding off! We have to studying for the final exams! They're only a month away!"
"But Rei," Usagi whined. "It's so nice outside. Can't we go get some ice cream in the park or something? I'm so sick of studying."

"Usagi-chan, if we just finish this last chapter in algebra we can take a break." Ami interrupted. "It shouldn't take long if we put our minds to it."

"That's right, Ami." Agreed Makoto.

"Yeah, come on ordango atama." Minako said.

"Let's go Usagi." Rei said. "Mamoru-chan won't want to date a girl who's not smart."

"You leave him out of this Rei!" Usagi screamed.

Rei stuck her tongue out at Usagi. Usagi leaped across the low table and tackled Rei. Rei grabbed one of Usagi's long ponytails and began pulling. Usagi screamed in pain and grabbed Rei's cheek and held it in a pinch. Both girls continued screaming but refused to let go. Makoto and Minako tried to pull the two apart but ended up getting bitten and kicked in the confusion. Just as the little brawl reached it's high point, a small blonde cocker spaniel came bounding in the open door.
The small dog screeched across the floor and into Ami's lap. A second later a blonde curly haired girl ran yelling into the room. "Apollo!" she bellowed. "What do you think you are doing? You . . ." She broke off in mid-sentence as she noticed the tangle of girls lying on the floor looking at her and the girl sitting behind the table holding the dog. She flushed a deep scarlet as the girls continued staring at her.

"Oh my! I am so sorry!" she stammered. "My d-dog ran off and I'm new around here so I didn't know where I was going."

Rei let go of Usagi and crawled out from underneath Makoto. Brushing herself off, she stood up. She looked the girl up and down. The girl's curly golden blonde hair was pulled into a series of small ponytails at her crown and then pulled into a half pony and tied in a green ribbon. Her face was slender and tan. Her shimmering light green eyes were bright in the sunlight. She wore a baby blue tank top and white khaki shorts.

"Hello. Um, don't worry about it. You aren't interrupting anything. My name is Hino Rei. What's yours?"

"Hello, Hino-san. My name is Shannon O'Reagan, wait, O'Reagan Shannon. My dog is Apollo." Shannon's voice rang with a slight Irish accent. "I just moved here today with my family. We were just finishing unloading when Apollo spotted a squirrel and took off after it. I guess she lost track of it and ended up in here."

By this time the rest of the girls had untangled themselves and were standing around the table behind Rei. Ami stood and handed Apollo to Shannon.

"Hi O'Reagan-san. I'm Mizuno Ami." She pulled a strand of short blue hair behind her ear.

"Oh!" Shannon laughed. "Please call me Shannon."

"I'm Kino Makoto. Good to meet you, Shannon-chan." The brunette with the ponytail said cheerfully.

"Aino Minako here!" Minako said, straightening her blouse.

"And I'm Tsukino Usagi! Pleased to meet your acquaintance!" Usagi bounced up enthusiastically.

"I like your hair style, Usagi-chan. Nice to meet you too, Makoto-chan. Hi Minako-chan and Ami-chan." Shannon said. "I'm very sorry to so rudely barged in here. This is a very nice temple."

"Thank you, Shannon." Said Rei. "I live here with my grandfather."

"I wish there was something I could do to make up for barging in on you and to thank you for catching Apollo. Wait! I know! When I was leaving my mum was making lemonade, would you like to come to my house for a glass?" Shannon asked hopefully. She wanted to make new friends in this new country and these girls seemed very nice.

"Well, I don't know." Rei began to say but Usagi cut in.

"Of course!! We'd love to! We need a break from studying!"

"Great!" Shannon smiled, showing her straight, white teeth. "Follow me!"

All five girls followed the small blonde girl and the dog out the door and down the steps of the temple.

*

"Here we are!" Shannon cried triumphantly. The girls had gotten lost several times on the way to the house. "I knew I could find it!” She paused. “Let's rest here a second before we go into the house."

The girls all sat down in front of the white picket fence. Usagi looked around her in amazement. The white house was huge. The car parked in the driveway was silver and looked new. Tall piles of boxes sat piled up on the front porch. Then a melodious voice came ringing out the window.

"Shannon, is that you?" The voice was sweet with an Irish accent much like Shannon's only heavier.

"Yes, Mum. I've found Apollo and some new friends. I thought I'd bring them here for some of your lemonade." Shannon called back.

"That's lovely. Bring them in." Shannon's mother replied.

Usagi, Rei, Ami, Makoto and Minako all followed Shannon up the front steps and into the house. The crossed the hall and walked into the well-lit kitchen. A short woman with short blonde hair was sitting at an oak table carefully unwrapping china dishes. A baby boy was perched on a stool next to her, banging a wooden spoon vigorously against the seat lock that held him captive in the chair.

The woman put down the mug she was examining and stood up. "You girls look thirsty! Let me get you some ice-cold lemonade." She made her way gracefully around the boxes to the counter where a pitcher of lemonade and several glasses stood waiting on a tray. "Here you go! Drink as much as you like. Shannon, would you mind introducing us?"

"Oh yes. Mum, these are the girls who caught Apollo for me." Shannon said. Then she turned to each girl and pointed to them as she said their names. "This is Mizuno Ami, Hino Rei, Aino Minako, Kino Makoto and Tsukino Usagi. This is my mother."

Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you all! You may call me Belle." Shannon's mother said sweetly. "And that little rascal banging the spoon is Conner." At the mention of his name, the baby looked up, stopped banging the spoon and gurgled. Then continued to attack the chair.

"Okay, okay Conner! I'll set you free!" Shannon said swooping in and unlocking the seat. She carefully picked up the boy and set him down on the floor. "Okay! There you go, Little Man. Play with Apollo." She fondly used the family nickname for the baby.

Just then another boy followed by an older girl stalked into the kitchen. He stopped short when he saw the guests and was crashed into by the girl following him.

"Colin!" the older girl shouted. "What's the hold up?" She shoved him aside and continued into the room. "Oh! Hello."

"Girls, that is my sister Sinead and my other brother Colin." Shannon explained. "Colin, Sinead, I'm just going to wait till Dad gets in here to introduce my friends." As if on cue, Shannon's father entered the kitchen by the side door.

"Whoa!" he cried. "And who are all these young ladies?"

"Dad, these are my new friends. We just met. This is Hino Rei, Mizuno Ami, Kino Makoto, Tsukino Usagi and Aino Minako. Girls, this is my father Caleb." Shannon explained. "If you don't mind, I think we'll be heading out now. Bye."

"Stop by anytime you want girls!" Belle shouted after them. "Shannon, I need you to come right back, you still need to unpack."

"Yes Mother!" Shannon yelled back, exasperated. "So sorry you had to meet my family all in one go. They're bit overwhelming, aren't they?"

"That's okay, Shannon-chan." Usagi said speaking for the group. "We better go and let you get back to unpacking."

"Just one thing before we go, Shannon-chan." Ami interjected. "Will you be finishing out the school year here?"

"Yeah, I will." Shannon replied. "I start tomorrow at Juuban Junior High."

"Good!" Makoto smiled. "We'll see you there tomorrow then! Bye!"

The girls all waved good-bye and went back down the road to Rei's temple. Shannon turned to go back into the house. Apollo met her on the front porch.

Looking down at the dog she said, "There's something so familiar about those girls, but I just can't say what." The dog looked back up at her and nodded in agreement. Shannon bent down and lifted Apollo up and carried her into the house.

*

"Haruka, could you come in here please?" Michiru's gentle voice drifted from the kitchen.

Reluctantly Haruka tore herself from her thoughts and swung her long legs down from the window seat. "Coming." She padded from the living room to the kitchen.

Michiru turned around as Haruka entered the small kitchen area. "Will you go for a walk with me? I'm very restless tonight." She sighed. "It feels like something is up. We came back to Tokyo because we felt something evil was starting to move in on the city. That was over a month ago. I was thinking maybe our instincts were off. But now, I have that same feeling I had before we decided to come back here."

"I know what you mean." Haruka replied. "Something's been troubling me too. Maybe a walk would help. Let's go."

The girls walked side by side silently for several blocks, each lost in their own thoughts. As they neared the park, a bright light suddenly shown from the center of the park.

"What was that?!" Haruka cried. She ran forward to the path that entered the park. Looking down it she saw a hideous youma standing in the middle of the park. Glancing back at Michiru, she pulled her transformation pen from her jacket. She thrust her fist in the air.

"Uranus Planet Power, Make Up!"

Michiru nodded and followed suit. "Neptune Planet Power, Make Up!"

Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune charged down the pathway towards the center of the park. They stopped short when they saw the youma. It was tall, slender and dark purple. It had a short, white hair, and red, blazing eyes. But it wasn't so much the youma that had made the senshi stop dead in their tracks. It was the golden senshi running toward it.

Sailor Neptune took a small step backward. "Wh-who is that?!"

"I have no idea." Uranus's gray eyes were wide.

"Blinding Punch!" The small soldier yelled at she slammed her fist where the youma's nose should have been.

The youma stumbled backwards. Crying out in pain, "Owwwa!" It clamped its smooth purple hand over its face. "You little brat!" The hissing voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "Salmar!"

A lightning bolt of purple lightning shot from the monster's free hand. It skidded on the ground, then shot straight up at the new senshi.

"Look out!" Sailor Neptune cried.

The senshi moved to jump out of the way, but looked back at Neptune in surprise. Part of the bolt caught her left wrist.

"Ahhh!" She cried, sinking to one knee. She looked up at the youma, half- smiling. "Lucky shot, Salmar. You won't get another one." Turning she looked at the small dog who was standing over a boy who was lying motionless on the ground. "Apollo, my bow!"

The dog shot to the girl's side, nudging her up.

"I am Sailor Electra, and you are history!" She grabbed the silver archery bow from the holster on the dog's back. Raising it with her right hand, she began to pull the string back with her left, suddenly stopping and crying out.

"Aww dammit! I forgot about my wrist." She looked to Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, who were still standing, in the middle of the sidewalk. "Could I get a little help?"

Sailor Uranus looked at Sailor Electra mutely for a moment, then she shook herself out of her daze. Nodding, she shouted, "World Shaking!"

The Salmar turned just in time to see the golden globe of energy right in front of her face. She flew into the air, landing with a thud. She lifted her head. "Salmar . . ."

Sailor Neptune stepped forward. "Deep Submerge!" The sparkling marine energy washed over the Salmar, leaving her lying on the ground. She cried out once more before dematerializing.

Sailor Electra grasped her wrist, rubbing it to rid herself of the lingering pain. She smiled widely as she noticed Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune staring at her. "Uranus, Neptune!" She cried. "I found you guys! Well, I guess you kind of found me, but great timing."

"Sailor . . . Electra?" Uranus shook her head. "I can't remember there being a Sailor Electra."

"Me either." Neptune agreed.

Sailor Electra's smile faded slightly. "No, I don't suppose you would remember me." She turned her back on them, as the small dog yipped. "I almost forgot about the boy!" She winked and ran to the dog. Putting the bow back in its holster, she pat the dog. Then she picked up the child. She looked at him seriously for a moment, then she laid him down gently on a park bench. "He's fine. He'll wake up a little bit; he's just a little drained is all. Let's go, Wonder Dog." She laughed as the yellow dog snorted. "We'll meet again Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus." She jumped into a tree and away into the night. The dog followed on the ground.

Sailor Uranus looked to Sailor Neptune. "I think we need a Sailor Senshi meeting."

Neptune nodded in agreement. "Tomorrow."

*