rAll rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or
copied in any form by all means. Sailor Moon is a product of
Bandai, Toei, and Naoko Takeuchi. All the other character and
this story is property of Lady Jupiter and Co. To reproduce
any part of this story requires strict permission from her
and her only. All other standard fanfic disclaimers apply.
Flames, comments, questions and other things go to Lady Jupiter
at Ladyjupiter@sailorjupiter.com
Please put the fanfic name as the subject if you do actually
mail me. I'm already confused as it is, you don't need to drive
me even more off the cliff okay?
This is a whole different series than my other ones. If you
read Jupiter Knight and Past Lives, you'll see some tie-in and
same character basis. Yes, I know, all my fics are somehow
connected to each other. Well, that way, I won't go out
of my mind trying to recall which fic was which.
False Hope
by Lady Jupiter
Lita put away her vacuum cleaner in her closet. Another
Saturday, another cleaning day. She liked to clean on Saturday.
Some may call her a neat freak, but she liked everything in
spic and span order. Lita usually cleaned on Saturday mornings
like today. Then, she would have the whole afternoon off and
wouldn't have to worry about dust bunnies under her couch.
Exhausted, she flopped onto her clean and fresh couch. It
was still early, before noon. She got done sooner than she
guessed. Now she was planning what to do this afternoon. All
week she, studied and studied and tested. She was becoming
like Ami!
No, that was not her usual agenda. The past week was different
becuase all students were being tested on what they learned
during the year. Ofcourse, the test usually covered more
than what they learned, so everyone knew it was wise to study
past the limit. Now it was all over with and the next few
weeks, the last few weeks of school would be easy reveiwing.
Not that she was complaining, but it was pretty boring
here. The Negaverse and all the other evil beings were laying
low or completely dissapeared. It seemed that they were
actually going to live normal for once. No running off
at midnight chasing some henchmen, rescuing a couple hundred
people from the clutches of the Negaverse, or walking
around in circles because of a "bad vibe" someone (usually Rei)
felt.
Lita reached over for the phone and punched up some
numbers.
On the third ring, someone picked up the phone, "Helloooo?"
"Hi, Ken. This is Lita." Lita said into her reciever.
Ken sounded like he just woke up, "Did I wake you?"
Ken cleared his throat, "No, ofcourse not. Who would
be sleeping at eleven in the morning on a Saturday?"
Serena came to Lita's mind, but she muted that thought.
"Are you busy?" Lita asked instead.
"Kind of," Ken said slowly.
"Well, if you're not too busy, want to go watch a movie
this afternoon?" Lita asked.
"I'm sorry, sweety. But I have to babysit my little
cousin. She's coming right now. My parents went out with
her mother to some wedding or something. Plus I have to
finish this paper that's due on Monday. I'd really love to take
you, but I'm all tied up this weekend. Maybe you can call
Mina or the others to go with you." Ken sounded genuinely
sorry.
"Do you want me to come over and help?" Lita asked.
"It's okay, you go and have fun this weekend. We can
do something next time." Ken said.
Lita already had something cooking up in her head, "Okay
then, see you."
"Bye," Ken made a kissy sound over the phone and hung
up.
Lita sprung off the bed and got cooking. She packed
a couple of sandwiches and hot soup in a thermo. She picked
a few fruits from her fridge and a couple of candybars. She
placed everything in a small picnic basket, got her housekeys
and went out the door of her apartment complex.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
"Daisy, you want to watch some cartoons?" Ken asked his
little four year old cousin.
"Okay!" Daisy jumped on the couch.
"Don't jump on the couch, alright? It might break if
you jump too much." Ken told her.
Daisy's eyes were already glued on the television. Ken knew
he shouldn't get her addicted to TV like that, but he really
needed to get started on the paper.
*Maybe I should have asked Lita to come over and help...
Nah, she needs to relax a little.* Ken took out a pen
and paper, sat down and started thinking. This was a hard
topic to write about. His mind was absolutely blank on that
subject.
Just then, the doorbell rang, interupting his broken
train of thoughts. Ken sighed and got up. Another distraction
from the paper. Daisy followed not far behind him. When
he stopped at the door, she stopped right in back of him
and took hold of one of his legs.
"Watch out, I might step on you." Ken joked. He loved
his cousin, she was so adorable, although sometimes so
cute it gave him cavities.
Lita waited for an answer to the doorbell. He had to be
home. Did he go for a walk or something? No, he said he
was baby sitting.
The door opened wide, almost knocking her off the front
step.
Ken was surprised Lita was here, "Lita, what are you
doing here?"
Lita smiled brightly and winked, "Lita Kino, at your
service!"
Ken stepped aside, careful not to trip on Daisy. "Come in,
Lita. Make yourself at home, you know."
Lita noticed a small child practically attached to Ken's
leg, staring shyly at her. Lita stooped down and offered a
hand to shake. "Hi there, I'm Lita. Who are you?"
Daisy looked at her hand, not sure of what to do. Daisy
just gave Lita five and quickly retreated further back.
"This is Daisy, my cousin." Ken said, bringing her
infront of him. "Say 'hi', Daisy."
"Hello," Daisy said.
"She's kind of shy," Ken explained.
"She's adorable!" Lita squealed.
Ken let Daisy run off into his room. "So?" he asked.
"Sooooo?" Lita imitated his tone of voice.
Ken sighed, "So what are you doing here?"
Lita held up the basket, "I brought you guys lunch.
Knowing you, you'll probably be so absorbed in your work
you'll starve the poor kid to death."
Ken didn't even think about lunch yet, so in a way, Lita
was right. "Thanks! I don't think there's anything
edible in my fridge right now." Ken said.
Lita put the basket on the kitchen counter and started
unpacking the contents.
"Daisy, come into the kitchen and have some lunch," Ken
called.
Lita set a place for the three of them at the table,
including a booster seat for Daisy. She watched the little
girl walk up quiet as a mouse and attach herself on Ken's
leg again.
Ken practically had to pull her off of him. "Here
Daisy, you get to sit on the throne okay?" He idicated
the booster chair.
"Okay!" Daisy's eyes brightened.
Lita fell in love all over again, seeing Ken with
Daisy. He was so sweet and kind and just so cute! She
saw how patient he was with little kids.
"Where do you want to sit?" Ken asked. There were
only two seats left.
"I'll just sit here," Lita sat across from him.
Ken sat down and looked at his sandwhich, "Wow, these
look good. What is it? Sprouts? Lettuce? Cabbage?
Celery?....."
"Ken, just eat it." Lita joked.
Daisy had already helped herself to her lunch and
was munching loudly. Lita nibbled on her own sandwich. She
wasn't very hungry, having ate brunch an hour before.
The first person finished with lunch was Daisy and
she said it.
"Can I go watch TV?" she asked in her quiet voice.
"Okay, but only a little." Ken said.
Lita got up and dug into the picnic basket. She brought
out a candy bar and handed it to Daisy, "Here you go,
since you were such a good girl. I think you deserve
some desert."
"Thank you," Daisy said happily and took it.
Ken watched her run off to the living room. Then he
turned to Lita, "Bribing her?" He joked.
"Ofcourse not." Lita said with her best innocent
face.
"Are you planning to stay this whole afternoon?" Ken
asked.
"Are you planning to kick me out if I do?" Lita
countered.
"No, you know I don't do that until after ten." Ken laughed.
"Do you want me to stay? I don't really have much
to do anyway," Lita said.
"Would you?"
"Sure, she's so cute." Lita said.
"Thanks, you're a real lifesaver. Now I can get a lot
done on the paper." Ken said.
"How far are you?"
"I didn't start yet," Ken said ashamed. "I don't know
how to start it. It's like this big blank in my head."
"What's it about?" Lita asked.
"The topic is, 'are we what we think we are?' " Ken quoted.
Lita got into a dramatic Shakesperian pose, "Are we
what we think?" She made a deep gesture and then put on
her serious face, "If we think not.......then are we not?"
Ken burst out laughing, he almost fell of his chair. Lita
joined in after her performance with the laughing.
"That was really good!" Ken said after he caught
his breath.
"Thanks," Lita said.
"If you don't make it as a world famous chef, which I
doubt you'll have trouble with, you can be a philosopher."
Ken said.
"No, I rather let Ami be the brains." Lita said.
Ken began to gather up the dishes, but Lita stopped
him, "No, go start on your paper. I'll clean up."
Ken started for the living room, "Thanks, I owe you one
big time."
"No, this makes us even for last time when you saved
my life." Lita said, half serious. They both knew when
that was.
After Lita finished the dishes, she went out to the
living room. She saw Ken so absorbed in writting, his
pencil almost started smoking. Daisy was still watching
cartoons, so she didn't disturb either of them.
Lita went into Ken's room and helped herself to one of
his many mangas. Out of all of her friends, Ken had the
most and and most variety. She saw that he had the
first issue of almost every manga available, some even
in other languages. She plopped down on his big comfy bed
and started to read one she randomly selected.
This manga was one she had never seen before. It was
of a boy, he turned into a girl whenever he was splashed
with cold water. Some of his friends turned into animals
if it happened to them. Lita laughed outloud at how
hilarious it was.
Lita sped through that book quickly, a smile playing
upon her lips when she turned the last page. She checked
the time. An hour had passed, and not a sound interupted
her. *I better check on Daisy*
When Lita got off of the bed, she noticed Daisy
sitting by the bed, playing with legos. Daisy had been
so quiet, Lita didn't even know she was there. Judging
by the size of the house Daisy was building with her
legos, she's been there for a long time.
The manga went back to it's home ontop of one of the
many stacks on Ken's bookshelf. Lita went over to Daisy
and watched what she was building.
"Daisy, what are you making?" Lita asked.
Daisy looked up at Lita, like she was crazy. She looked
back down at her structure, then up again at Lita. "I'm
making a castle."
"Wow, it's a big castle. Who's going to live in it?"
Lita asked, taking a seat next to Daisy on the plush carpet.
"The Prince, ofcourse." Daisy said as if it was plainly
obvious.
"What about the Princess?"
"She's divorced and lives in a seperate castle," Daisy
stated.
Lita had a feeling Daisy's parents were probably divorced,
but didn't ask anything about that. "Would you mind if I
build a castle for the Princess?"
Daisy stopped building and thought for a second. Then,
her eyes brightened up, "Can you build a dream castle
for the Princess? Will you make a big fortress for it and
a garden?"
The way a childs' eyes lit up when they though of something
happy or understood something at once would make Lita
smile. She loved the way small children would finally
understand something. She could actually see it in their
eyes.
"Sure, if you want me to." Lita said.
Daisy pushed some blocks to Lita and went back to making
her own castle. Lita started the bottom of the castle,
reminiscing the time she was Daisy's age and use to build
dream castles. Lita's parents were usually too busy to
play with her, but there were times when they would all
sit down as a family and do something together. Lita cherished
those times, when her father would be wearing a cardigan, (No, not one of Ann and Alan's monsters. That is a CARDIAN! There IS a difference!)
relaxed, and her mother would still have her apron on from
baking cookies. But whenever Lita built castles, she
recalled building them as a child with her best friend. Ofcourse,
as most children would, they would sometimes get into
fights over who got the last connecting blue piece. Those
were the days, when Lita and Ken would spend hours a day
just staring at a few pieces of plastic.
"Lita?" Daisy's voice broke Lita's chain of thoughts.
"Hmmm?"
"Can I ask you a question?" Daisy asked shyly.
"Sure, shoot." Lita put down a piece of lego.
"Are you Ken's girlfriend?" Daisy asked.
"Why? Did he say I was?" Lita decided to find out how
much Ken mentioned her around the house.
"He said he really like you and that I would like you
too because you were 'friendly and sociably cheery'." Daisy
quoted.
"Yes, I am his girlfriend. But I don't I know about
sociable cheery. I'm not sure if I even know what
it means," Lita laughed.
"Maybe it means you are a friendly cherry," Daisy
said, actually believing her own words.
"Maybe," Lita said, but she doubt it. Still, it would
be sad to tell Daisy she was wrong about such a small thing.
She would rather forget about it.
"Are you going to marry Ken and live in a castle?" Daisy
asked.
Lita knew Daisy was imagining one of her childhood
fairytales, but she didn't know how right she was. Lita
couldn't help but think about the past, when she DID live
in a castle in the Jupiter Kingdom.
"If I do, I'll make sure to tell Kennie to invite you
over for tea. Just like the Princesses in fairy tales,
okay?" Lita said.
"Okay!" Daisy seemed contempt with that and went back
to her castle building.
******** ******** ******** ********
"The Prince is going for a ride in the forest and will
meet the princess and fall in love again, okay?" Daisy started
moving the pretend lego prince in a walking fashion.
"Okay, the Princess is right here." Lita put the lego
princess in the middle of some extra blocks that indicated
a forest.
They had been playing for at least half an hour after
the castle was done. Still not a peep from Ken. *He must
be working hard.* Lita thought.
Daisy yawned and rubbed her eyes. Lita saw her eyelids
droop a little.
"Want to take a nap?" Lita asked.
"No, only babies take naps." Daisy stated, "I am not
a baby anymore. Mommy said I was a big girl now."
"I know you're a big girl. But even big girls have
to take naps when they are tired so they can grow up
to be good girls." Lita tried to convince her. Her mother
used the same line on her when she was Daisy's age.
"I'm going to grow up to be Sailor Moon!" Daisy
called out, "I'm going to be Sailor Daisy!"
Lita laughed inwardly at that. Too bad Daisy didn't
know the truth of who Lita was. It was a shame they
all lived seperate lives, almost like a double life.
Almost like a lie.
"Are you going to take a nap?" Daisy asked.
"Do you want me to?" Lita did feel a little drowsy.
Daisy looked at the floor, tracing a pattern
on the carpet before answering, "Could you? I'm afraid
the sandman might come and get me if I sleep alone."
Lita smiled, "Sure, but you don't have to be afraid
of the sandman. He's your friend."
"Why? The boys at day-care told me he was bad and
made you have nightmares." Daisy said.
"Let's put away all the extra lego pieces and get
to bed. Then I'll tell you a story okay?" Lita asked.
"Okay," Daisy helped Lita put away the legos in
their tubs, but left the castles standing.
Daisy climbed onto bed under the covers and waited
expectantly. Lita lied down next to Daisy on her side
on the blanket and closed her eyes, recalling the old,
old story.
"Can you tell me the story now?" Daisy asked.
Lita began, "Once upon a time, there was a
sandman. He would go around at night when children are
sleeping and blow sand into their windows. The sand
was not really sand, but magic dust. The magic dust
would give the kids dreams. Good dreams of candy and
prince and princesses and toys. But one day, the
sandman noticed that he had to think up better and better
dreams to give to the kids because they would get bored
of the same dream. So, he decided that once in a while,
he would blow some bad dream sand into a child's window
to give them a bad dream. That way, after the bad dream,
the next good dream would be even better. But usually,
the kids who have bad dreams are the ones who are
full of good dreams. The bad dream clears away the
good dreams to make room for more dreams."
Daisy was already asleep by the time the story was
finished. Lita closed her eyes for a few minutes, but
forgot to wake up again.
Lita opened her eyes, surprised she wasn't in her
own room. A look at Daisy reminded her of where she
dozed off at. Anomously, she was covered with a light
pastel green blanket, a baby blanky. She had the fuzzy
image of someone coming in, standing over the bed and
then covering her with this blanket.
Lita got up and quietly took the green blanky, careful
not to wake Daisy. She wiped the side of her face. It
was wet. She had slept with her mouth open, which resulted
in drooling like a baby. Lita walked into the bathroom
to wash her face and fix her hair.
When Lita walked out into the living room, she was
surprised to see Ken wathching TV and not writting
his paper.
"Are you done with your paper already?" Lita asked.
Ken almost jumped past the roof, "Geez! Don't
scare me like that!"
"Sorry," Lita laughed and went to sit next to him.
"Yes, I finished the paper, went through it and
then wrote it over in black ink." Ken said.
"Wow, how long was I sleeping?" Lita wondered.
"Long enough to cause a considerable amount of
drool to accumulate on my bed." Ken said.
"Oh," Lita blushed, "He-he." She was still clutching
his green blanky, "Here, isn't this your blanky?"
Ken took the worn and old blanket. It was one of
his most prized possesions. He use to bring it everywhere,
to nursery school, to kindergarden. Thankfully, he outgrew
that phase, but he still kept it. It gave him comfort.
"Thanks for helping out today, Li. I really
appreciate it. I don't know how I could have finished
the paper without your help." Ken said, "I thought it
would take forever to write that thing. But I thought
about what you said, 'If I think not, am I not?' and
wrote about it. I hope that's alright?" He asked.
"Sure. Like I said, Lita Kino, at your service!" Lita
winked at him.
Ken sat closer to Lita, "You look so cute when you
say that."
"Do I look socially cheery?" Lita smiled at him.
Ken's cheeks filled with some color, "I guess Daisy
and you were talking, huh?"
"You COULD say that..." Lita said mysteriously.
"What did she say to embarass me?" Ken asked.
"Nothing much," Lita assured him.
"Okay," Ken reached down and got his can off coke.
He drank in a big bulp.
"She just asked if I was going to marry you," Lita
lowered the punch.
Ken almost spit out the coke, let alone choke on it.
"She did?"
"Yes, she did." Lita waited for Ken's reaction.
Ken tried to act calm. There was still plenty
of time to ask the question. The BIG question. There was
no need to say it right now.
"I just said that if I DO get married, she can come
live with me in a castle." Lita decided to stop torturing
Ken. She did enjoy watching him squirm for a while.
"Do you want to live in a castle?" Ken asked.
"Anywhere except an orphanage," Lita muttered.
Ken knew that next to airplanes, being sent to an
orphanage was next on Lita's most feared list.
"No one is going to put you in an orphanage, Li."
He assured her.
"I'm still under age, Kennie. What if one day, my
uncle decides not to support me anymore? What if one day,
the money doesn't come?" Lita asked softly. Every day
she lived in the fear of that. She feared each day,
coming home from school that when she checked the mail,
the money would not come.
Ken hugged Lita up against him. Outside, she gave
everyone the feeling that she was tough and could handle
anything, but people forgot that she still had the feelings
of a sensitive girl. He knew Lita inside and out, and he
knew all her weak spots.
"Don't worry. It won't ever happen. But if it does,
you can come live with me," Ken whispered in her hair. He
kissed the top of her head and took in her sweat scent.
Lita looked at him, her eyes full of wonder. A small
smile played on her lips as she kept on staring with a
certain interest. Ken looked back at her, trying to figure
out what was going on inside of her head right there. Her
feelings, he could see clearly in her eyes, but he could
never tell what she was thinking.
"What are you thinking of?" Ken asked, tracing a finger
down her face.
Lita's eyes filled with love, "I'm thinking what a lucky
girl I am to have found you. I don't know how I could not have
realized that you were the one I've been looking for my whole
life." She remembered a time, when Ken was only her
friend, she never knew he wanted to be more, that he loved
her. She remembered getting dumped by some guy, crying over him
on Ken's shoulder, hurting inside, but not realizing how much
Ken was hurting inside. Then, time after time, after Ken
had healed all the emotional wounds, Lita would go and date
guy after guy, always getting let down.
"Ken, why are you like that? I'm not good enough for you.
Your whole life, you've been so good to me, looking out for
me. Kennie, I owe you my whole life!" Lita exclaimed.
Ken just looked at her, his head cocked. "I love you Lita,
forever. You don't owe me anything. You already gave me
more than enough with your love. I can't make you promise
never to leave me, because then it will be out of force.
But I promise I will never think of another person, other
than you."
Lita placed her head on his shoulder, "For as long as I
live, I will never do anything to hurt you....again. That
I can promise. But will we live happily ever after, Kennie?"
Lita had long realized that no one lives fairy tale lives
where after you find your prince, you live happily ever
after. She had her hopes, fantasies, even some of her innocence
wiped away because of her parent's death, because of all the
people she loved that went away. For a while, she was even
afraid to love Ken, afraid that he too, would leave her.
"No, nothing is like a fairy tale, Li. I'm sorry
to say. I'm sorry you had to learn that when you were so
young. But don't worry, as long as I'm here, I will make
it my duty that you will be happy."
"No, you shouldn't. You spoil me too much already,"
Lita confessed.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
"Serena! Congradulations," Luna said, perched on
Serena's shoulder.
"Why, Luna?" the girl asked curiosly.
"You actually came to school early and managed not to
get detention today!" said Luna.
"Oh yeah! I did, didn't I? Well, this deserves a
celebration. I'm going to stop by the arcade and get some
ice-cream!" Serena ran at jet speed down the street.
Luna held on for her life, "Wait, Serena! Not today.
Remember? We have the scout meeting after school at your
house. Wouldn't it be a shame if you were late to your
own house?"
Serena stopped short, Luna flew off. "Ooops, sorry
Luna." She picked Luna up and stuffed the cat in her
backpack. "Okay, let's go home."
Serena's dad was on his way to work when she got there.
"Serena? Actually home on time?" her dad was astounded.
"Yup!" she unlocked the door to the house.
"Oh, there's a young man waiting in there. Is he
you boyfriend? Do you have two boyfriends? Well, I
like this one better, that Darien is too old for you!"
Serena's dad was going into another speech about Darien's
age.
"No, dad! I'm staying with Darien!" Serena insisted
and opened the door. She found Ken sitting there.
"Ken! What are you doing here?" Serena asked.
Her dad poked his head in the doorway and studdied him
critically, "If he is not your boyfriend, then who is he?
Why don't you like that nice boy, what's his name....
Melvin? Is that his name?"
"Dad! Aren't you going to be late for work?" Serena
pushed her dad out the door.
"I'm not leaving you alone with HIM until you tell me
who he is! You're mother is still out shopping. She won't
be home until night. I don't trust you alone with the
guy." Her dad kept his ground.
"Ken, this is my dad," Serena was embarassed at the way
her father was acting.
"Oh, yes. We met." Ken said.
"Dad, this is Ken," Serena emphasized, "LITA's BOYFRIEND!
Now go to work!"
"Okay," her dad was now okay with it.
Serena slammed the door closed and turned around. Her
face was red with embarassment, "Sorry you had to see that."
"That's okay. He's very...very...." Ken tried to find
the word.
"Weird?" Serena provided.
"I guess," Ken sat back on the couch.
Serena felt uncomfortable at home alone with Ken. It was
the first time she was ever alone with him, without Lita.
If it weren't for Lita or the scout business, she wouldn't
have ever met him and probably never would.
"I'd make you tea, but I don't know how. Do you
want some juice?" Serena asked on her way to the kitchen.
"No, I'm not thirsty," Ken said.
Five minutes later, Serena came back with at least ten
pounds of food. "I'm starving!" She exclaimed.
*Gee, she eats a lot for a girl her size,* Ken thought
quietly and smiled. If everything tasted like the food Lita
made, he would eat more than that!
"Are you sure you don't want any?" Serena asked with
her mouth full, food spraying everywhere.
"No, that's okay." Ken said politely.
Serena no longer felt uncomfortable with Ken. He had
a friendly air about him, that made you want to get to know
him, to be his friend.
"How did you get here so early? Who let you in?" Serena
asked.
"My school get's off early on Fridays. Remember, I don't
go to the same school as you guys do. Your brother let me
in. He's pretty funny. He though I was going to have an affair
with you or something and told me not to mess around with
Darien because he is a 'tough guy' or something." Ken laughed.
"Oh, Sammy. Is he still here?" Serena asked.
"No, I think he said he was going to the arcade or something,"
Ken told her. "Why are the other's so late? I thought that
you would be the only late one here."
"Oh, well, Luna told me to hurry up and it would be
embarrassing for me to be late to my own house...Luna!" Serena
finally remembered the poor cat in her back pack. She let Luna
free from the confinement of the small space.
"Well, it's about time!" Luna said angrily.
"Hee-hee, sorry Luna. I forgot about you," Serena
apologized.
Luna looked around and saw that they were the only ones
there, "Where is everyone else?"
"Probably still at school. I don't know about Mina, though.
Maybe you should go check on her," Serena suggested.
"Yes, I will. I'll go see what is keeping Artemis and
Mina so long," Luna hopped out of the window and onto a
brick wall.
Serena sat back down and attacked her food again.
"Where ARE the others anyway?" Ken asked. Lita was not
usually late like this.
"Well, Rei's private school let's off later than ours.
Ami is still helping with after school tutoring. Mina...
I don't know about her. Darien..." Serena had that
dreamy look in her eyes, "he's still at his job. And Lita
has detention. She told be when she passed by that we shouldn't
wait for her."
"Lita has detention? For what? Not fighting again?!" Ken
asked. He had hoped that she would stop fighting and getting
kicked out of school.
"No, she hasn't done that in a long time. I think she was
late to class today. And I wasn't! Isn't that a shock?" Serena
was proud of the fact that she was actually early for something
in her life.
"Wow, you early?" Ken asked, with a astonished face.
"Hard to believe, huh?" Serena asked.
"Very," Ken agreed.
"So how long have you and Lita known each other?" Serena
always wondered how well they really knew each other.
"For a long time. Every since we were in diapers. No,
actually, I've known her since she was wearing diapers. I was
potty trained by then." Ken joked.
"Are you older than her?" Serena never thought of that.
"Two years and six days," Ken had that fact memorized.
"I never knew that!"
"Are you saying I'm immature?" Ken laughed.
"No, not that. Wow, so you guys were best friends for almost
your whole life?!" Serena asked.
"No, not until second grade. We were friends, but not
best friends. One day, I saw a group huddled around someone
and they looked angry. When I got closer, I saw they were
ganging up on Lita because she was the new girl in this school.
I've always known her and I knew that she couldn't take that
many kids. So I jumped in and together, we fought them off.
We got kicked out of that school, but enrolled in a new one
in the neighborhood.
A month after, Lita's parents died. She changed after
that. She didn't believe in magic anymore, she found out
happiness wasn't forever. She got into trouble all the
time, then finally got kicked out. All the teachers were
afraid of having her in their classrooms. Lita transferred
to your school, then she straightened up. At first, I thought
it was weird because she got her old attitude back, she had
her self esteem, her zest all back. That was when I realized
how much I liked her, loved her." Ken never really told
anyone that, but now that he did, he felt Serena would not
go blabbing it to everyone.
"Geez, that's so romantic!" Serena said.
"I guess,"
"I guess what?" Lita came in through the open door
carrying a heavy bookbag.
"How nice, you decided to fancy us with your presence?"
Ken asked, smiling warmly at her.
"Yes, I did. Now you better make the best of it!" Lita
kidded and sat down next to him.
Serena was staring at the two of them strangely.
"Serena? What are you staring at?" Lita asked.
"Awww! You guys make such a cute couple!" Serena cooed.
Lita and Ken blushed furiously, but was speechless.
Finally, Lita found her voice, "Well, you and Darien
aren't too bad yourself!"
"Too bad he's not here," Serena sighed.
"Who's not here?" A male voice called into the room.
"Darien!" Serena squealed and jumped to hug him,
"What are you doing here? Did ya get fired? Oh no! You
got fired huh?" Serena asked.
"No, Serena. Relax. I just got done with the job
earlier today and remembered there was a meeting here."
Darien said and leaned down to give Serena a quick kiss, but
stopped. "Is your dad here?"
"No, don't worry. He's on his way to the office. He
won't be trying to kick you out of the house today." Serena
laughed.
"Okay, if you say so," Darien sat down on the floor
and crossed his legs. "Where are the others and Luna?"
"They should be on their way by now," Serena said as if
she was never late a whole day in her life.
Just as Serena said, the others arrived a few minutes
later. Serena's house was now full of people and getting
pretty noisy.
"Hey, I was sitting there!" Serena said when she came
out of the bathroom.
"No, this is my seat," Rei said. She was sitting on
a pink armchair.
"No, it's my seat! I was there last." Serena told her.
Rei crossed her arms, "No, you were on the toilet last.
So go back there. You lost this seat when you got off."
"Give me my chair back!!!!" Serena demanded.
"Fine, don't have to whine about it!" Rei got up and
took the seat cushions off. She brought them with her
on the floor and sat on them.
"Hey! Come back with my cushions. How am I suppose to
sit without the cushions on the seat?" Serena demanded.
"You tell me. You just said you wanted the seat back,
so there you are. You never said anything about the
cushions." Rei retorted.
"But that's not fair!" Serena whined.
"Well, life's not fair!" Rei yelled at her.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah,"
"Oh yeah?!"
"Yeah!"
Rei and Serena got into another tongue sticking
tournament with each other while everyone else just
stood at the side and stared at them.
"Aren't you two acting a little immature?" Darien
asked.
"What?" Serena asked with her tongue still hanging
out.
"Shouldn't you guys act more your age?" Ami tried
to help Darien.
"Oh, I guess." Rei sat back down on the floor onto the
cushions.
"Wait, she still has my couch cushions!" Serena whined.
"Here!" Rei threw them at her and plopped down on the
hard floor.
"Thank you!" Serena put the cushions back on the
couch and sat down.
"Does anyone still remember why we are having this
meeting?" Luna reminded everyone.
"No, why?" Mina asked.
Luna hung her head and sighed, letting a big sweat
drop roll off her head. "We are here to discuss Scout
business."
"Why? Nothing's been going on, everything is fine."
Mina asked.
"Yes, we know that. But we still have to keep up the
training and keep fit just to be ready," Artemis said.
"You mean there will be more attacks from the Negaverse
or something?" Rei asked.
"We hope not, but it's better to be ready if they
come." Luna said.
"What do you mean stay in shape? I am in shape!" Serena
insisted. The thought of excercise made her shiver.
"Serena, hate to break this to you, but you're not
exactly Arnold Shwarzenager." Lita said.
"Who?" All of them asked.
"Arnold Shwarzenager! Don't you guys watch anything?
He's that terminator guy." Lita explained.
"Oh yeah, sure." Ami said doubtfully.
"Forget it," Lita told them, "Don't think too hard."
"But we demolished the last of the Negascum didn't we?"
Serena said in her high pitched voice.
"Yes, but the Negaverse is not the only home of bad
things. There are a lot more." Luna said.
"You mean we have to take on more of them?" Mina asked.
"No, ofcourse not. Most of them will just lay low
and feed off of each other, but there are still the greedy
ones to talk about. They come easily come here and
endanger humans." Artemis said.
"Geez, we never get a break!" Serena complained.
"What do you call the last month and a half? You guys
never even had to come out because of youmas or anything.
I would call that a break." Luna said.
"But what happened to living happily ever after?" Serena
insisted.
"That doesn't happen Serena!" Lita told her sternly.
All the others stopped and looked at Lita. She was
probably the one out of all of them that knew exactly that
happily ever after never happens.
"What?" Lita asked all of them who were staring at her.
"Nothing," they went back to talking about training
and everything else.
To Be continued...
*****************************************************
Gee, this is getting nowhere. Maybe on the next chapter,
it'll have some actual fighting. I don't know where this is
headed, but it'll end somewhere. If your actually reading
this paragraph, I suggest skipping it and use the time to
write some comments to me! Jya ne!
**********Copyright 1997 Lady Jupiter (All Rights Reserved)*************
(
geocities.com/tokyo/temple/Temple) (
geocities.com/tokyo/temple) (
geocities.com/tokyo)