Hi Everyone!

Um... Standard disclaimers apply, of course.  Like there was ever any
doubt about that.  This chapter is dedicated to my editor and friend 
Will Wolfshohl, who's one of my main inspirations, and seems to be 
feeling unappreciated, which he is not, because I appreciate him a 
lot!  

Jendra@aol.com

Sailor Moon Universal B

Chapter 7  Mothers


Serena was about to start telling the cats what had happened during the
fight that day, when Luna cocked her head and raised her paw.  "Your
parents are home," she said quietly, "This will have to wait for a few
minutes."

Serena nodded.  "I'd like to talk to Mom about it anyway," she murmured.

Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino walked in to find their daughter sitting on the
living room couch watching TV.  "Hello dear," Mr. Tsukino said, "Did
everything go alright while we were gone?"

"Everything was fine, Dad," Serena answered smiling up at him.  "Hey
Mom, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Of course dear, what's the matter?"  A flash of worry crossed her face
as she thought of all the things that might have happened, then it
smoothed out again as a look at her daughter convinced her she, at
least, was fine.

"Alone," Serena said, getting up.  "Girl talk, Dad. You don't mind, do
you?"

"Is it about that boy?" he growled.

"No Dad, it's not about Darien," Serena said.  "I thought you had gotten
over that?"

"Just because I'm not going to try to break you up, doesn't mean I like
him," was her father's answer.

"Don't worry, Dad, you'll get used to him," Serena grinned.

"Do I want to?" she heard him mutter as she led her mother upstairs and
into her parents' bedroom.  Luna and Diana followed.

"What's the matter?" her mother asked immediately as she closed the
door.  "Is something the matter with Reenie?"

"No, not really," Serena sighed. "Let me tell it to you in order, okay?"
Serena launches into an explanation of the events of the day.  "She made
me so mad, Mom! And scared. Jumping in like that... What if she'd gotten
hurt, or... killed?  She's so little and... and she's my daughter, I
love her.  And I'm so worried about her.  Do you know what I mean?  And
now there's only four of us. I really can't keep her from fighting. It
would cut our strength down too much.  But if I let her fight, and
take a chance that she will get hurt... I don't know what to do." Serena
sighed as she finally ran down.  She looked up to see her mother looking
at her with a very understanding look on her face.

"You're very proud of her for fighting, but you're very worried about
her too, and you'd like nothing better than to forbid her from ever
going near a youma again, but you know you don't have the right?" her
mother asked softly.

"That's right!  That's exactly it.  It's her future too, and she needs
to fight.  It's probably even her destiny."  Serena flopped down on the
bed with a sigh.  "But I'm her mother. I'm supposed to keep her safe,"
she continued.

"But to really keep her safe, you would have to keep her locked away,
forbid her to do anything," Mrs. Tsukino murmured.

"And I can't do that, I can't hurt her like that," Serena said in a
mournful voice.  She looked at her mother.  "How did you know all that?"
she asked.  Her eyes went wider.  "Is this how you feel when I fight? So
scared?"

"And so proud," her mother added.  "My little girl, out protecting the
world."

"How do you stand it?" Serena asked intently.

"What else can I do?" was her mother's answer.  "I can't keep you from
fighting. It wouldn't be right. No matter how much I want to wrap you up
and keep you safe."

Serena went over to her and hugged her tightly, a hug that was returned
in full measure.  "In a way, I wish you'd never seen me transform. I
don't want you to have to feel so scared. I wish I could take that
away."

"I don't," Ellen Tsukino replied. "I do worry more about you, but I
can't bear the thought of you in danger and me not knowing. I just have
to trust you as much as you trusted me in telling me."

"I'm glad I did," Serena sighed.  "I love having someone to talk to like
this."

Luna cleared her throat.  Serena turned to grin at her.  "Don't look at
me like that, Luna. I know I can always talk to you, but it's not quite
the same thing."

"I suppose not," Luna agreed.

Serena regretfully pulled herself from her mother's arms.  "I suppose
I'd better go apologize to Reenie," she said.

"Don't," Mrs. Tsukino told her.

"Don't?  Why not?  I mean, I was harder on her than I'd planned on
being." Serena was surprised at her mother saying that.

"Did you mean what you said about not letting her duo if she did
something like that again?"

"Yes, I did," Serena said seriously.  "I'm not going to risk her life,
or the lives of the others because she did something stupid, though
honestly, I've done worse," she finished almost in a whisper.

Mrs. Tsukino pretended like she hadn't heard that part. "If you go in
there now, apologizing for what you said, and letting her out of her
punishment, she'll never believe you'll actually keep your word about
not letting her fight."

"But..."

"Trust me on this one, Serena. This is a place where I have experience."

"Well, what about that time I got a thirty and you said you wouldn't let
me back in the house until I'd studied but you did anyway," Serena
reminded her.

"Yes, but that was only because your wailing would have disturbed the
entire neighborhood if I hadn't," she chuckled.  "But you didn't do your
homework when you came in either, did you? Maybe if I had kept you
locked out, you would have."

"It's not extremely likely," Luna muttered.

"Luna, you've been awfully quiet this whole time, is something the
matter?" Serena asked.  Indeed, Luna and Diana had just sat and watched
the whole time.

"I just didn't want to disturb your heart to heart," Luna replied.
"Now, about this youma you fought tonight.  You say she knocked you out
and then just looked at you for a couple of seconds?"

"That's right," Serena answered.  "As if she was expecting me to do
something or something."

"Maybe to detransform?" Luna asked.  "If they didn't know you carry
you're transformation brooch on your uniform, they might have thought it
was in your Lunar Space Pocket and tried to steal it from there."

Serena nodded thoughtfully, "That would explain why she just let me lie
there, and didn't attack even when I'd been knocked unconscious," she
agreed.  "But they couldn't have stolen my brooch from there, so
everything's fine, right?"

"What if they stole the Scepter?" Luna asked.

Serena's eyes went wide and she quickly made that flickering gesture
behind her back.  Her hand came out with the Moon Scepter.  "No, it's
okay," she sighed in relief.

"Do you have anything else in there that might have been taken?" Luna
asked thoughtfully.

Unexplainedly Serena blushed.  "No, no, I don't have anything else in
there that a youma would want," she replied quickly.

"Serena?" Luna and Mrs. Tsukino said in exactly the same tone of voice,
recognizing Serena's attempts at avoiding the question.  "Empty it out,"
Luna said resignedly.

"Um... well, you see... uh, yeah..." Serena replied.  She slowly reached
behind her again, and brought out... a comic book.

"Oh Serena," Luna sighed, "You know you're not supposed to use your
personal pocket space for things like that!"

"Hold on Luna," Mrs. Tsukino said.  "She was acting too guilty to be
hiding just a comic book."

Serena shot a look at her mother, before sighing and bringing out a bag
of candy.  This was followed by some tokens from the arcade, a crescent
moon necklace and earrings, a picture of Darien, another comic book, a
Sailor Moon T-shirt, a stuffed rabbit, and a coupon for a free ice
cream.  By this time, Luna was sunk down on the bed with her paws over
her eyes.  "Oh Serena," she groaned.

"Well, it's just that I didn't want to lose this stuff," she defended
herself.  "Or I didn't have anywhere else to put it."

"Serena!  How many times do I have to tell you?" Luna was almost
shouting.  "Your Pocket Space, like the Disguise Pen, is not for
personal use!"

"What's a disguise pen?" Diana broke in and asked.

Serena seemed happy to answer that question.  "Well, Diana, it's a
special pen that..." she looked over the crowded bed as she finished
absently, "lets me disguise myself as someone else."  She made the
flickering gesture again, but this time her hand came out empty.  "Has
anybody seen it?"

"What does it look like?" Mrs. Tsukino asked, looking over the pile of
stuff on her bed.

"It looks like a pen with a red crystal on top," Serena said, throwing
things off the bed to try to find it.  Finally they were convinced that
it was gone.

"So," Luna said.  "They thought that was your transformation wand and
took it."

"Well, that's not so bad, is it?  I mean, I hardly ever use it unless
I'm pretending to be old enough to get into some movies on my... umm,
never mind.  I mean, I hardly ever use it.  That's all."

Luna glared at her for a long moment.  "We will continue this
conversation later," she warned.

"Yeah, Luna, that's fine, later," Serena agreed, quickly picking up all
her things and stuffing them back into the space pocket.

She gave her mother a last hug and raced out of the room as her mother
started saying, "What movies?"

Serena's guilty look increased as she stood outside her door.  She
slowly opened it to see Reenie lying down holding the fixed Mi'a doll
almost desperately.

Reenie looked up as she heard the door open.  Serena could see she had
been crying, and it was all she could do not to tell her that she could
leave and they would go out somewhere.

"I'm going over to Lita's for dinner," she said instead.  "Mom'll make
you something if you're hungry."

"I'm sorry, Serena," Reenie whispered.

"I know you are, Reenie," Serena answered, sitting down next to her.
"But it doesn't change the fact that what you did was extremely
dangerous, and very reckless."

"But, how do I change the future, if I can't do anything?" Reenie cried.

"I didn't say you couldn't do anything," Serena answered.  "I'm not
stopping you from fighting, not yet anyway.  But you can't take chances
like that.  Think of it this way, Reenie.  If you die trying to change
the future, then you won't be here at a later time when you can change
it."

"Huh?" Reenie asked.

"Think about it," Serena answered, going out the door.

Serena walked down the street, headed for Lita's.  She knew she was
taking a chance, Lita had not invited her, and didn't know she was
coming.  Still, Lita had been upset, and when she was upset, she usually
cooked.

As Serena got closer she could tell she was right.  The odor coming from
Lita's apartment was enough to make her drool.  Serena took a deep
breath, and then another as the smells tantalized her.  She walked up
and rang the doorbell.

Mina opened the door and seemed surprised to see Serena standing there.
"Hi Serena, what are you doing here?"

"Hi Mina, I just thought that maybe Lita wouldn't mind a dinner guest,"
Serena said.  "Please, please," she muttered as the smells were wafted
to her again causing her stomach to growl noisily.

Mina laughed.  "You and your stomach," she grinned.  "Come on in, I'll
tell Lita you're here."

Serena followed her into the room and Mina walked into the kitchen.

"Who was at the door?" Lita asked.

"Serena," Mina said. "I guess she came to try to cheer you up."

"Well, that, and I kind of figured she'd be cooking, and my parents went
out to eat and Reenie's grounded," Serena put in from the kitchen door.
"You don't mind, do you?" she asked Lita.

"No, I don't," Lita replied.  "I guess I did kind of make enough for
three people."  She looked around at all the food she had cooked simply
because she needed something to do.  Looking at Serena's wide eyes, she
knew the food would be appreciated by at least one of her guests.

"Reenie's grounded?" Mina asked.  "How did that happen?"

"I was very, very angry at something she did in the last fight, so I
told her to stay in her room tonight and if she ever did it again, I
would stop duoing with her and ground her for a month," Serena said it
almost absently as she started carrying plates of food out to the dining
room table.

"`You' grounded her?" the other two chorused.

"I would have let her out of it, but Mom told me not to.  Since she's
had more experience, I decided to do what she said."  Serena's mind
still seemed to be more on the food than the conversation, and as soon
as all the food was out and they had sat down, she started piling her
plate.

"You really do think of yourself as her mother, don't you?" Lita asked.

Serena didn't bother swallowing before she started talking.  "It's not
so much that, though it is that too of course, it's more... I don't
quite know how to explain it," she finished.

She put her fork down, and placed her chin on her clasped hands as she
stared into space, thinking about it.  Mina started giggling as she sat
there, because her face was going through contortions as she thought her
way through it.  She suddenly looked up to find Lita and Mina staring at
her with their hands clasped under their chins.

"What?" she asked, surprised.

"Oh, nothing," Lita said.  "So?  Did you figure it out?"

"Huh?  Oh, yeah, I think so.  I'm her mother when she needs me to be."
Serena told them before turning back to the food she'd ignored for the
last several minutes.

"Which means...?" Mina asked.

"That when she doesn't need me to be a mother, I'm more like an older
sister." Serena shrugged.  "But I didn't come here to talk about my
relationship with Reenie, you know."

"No, you came here to eat," Lita told her.

Serena looked down at her full plate, then around at all the platters
and bowls on the table.  "True," she grinned.  She got serious.  "You
know, they tried for my transformation pen today, if I had one instead
of my brooch, I would be in the same spot you are."

"No you wouldn't," Lita disagreed.  "If they took your brooch, you would
have duoed with Travis as Sailor Sun."

Serena stopped with her fork halfway up to her mouth.  "You know, you're
right, I hadn't thought of that.  Still, I can imagine what it would be
like to be seemingly powerless."

"Seemingly powerless?" Mina asked in disbelief.  "We are powerless!  We
can't fight without our powers, we would get killed."

"And that idea about us trying to find the place where people were
getting drained was a bust; Travis managed to find it first," Lita
continued.

"That was just a fluke, and you know it," Serena said, putting down her
fork.  "Travis just happened to be at that game."

"Well, his `just happened to be there' worked a lot better than our
`let's check out every place where it could happen'," Lita said
sarcastically.

"You've been trying for less than half a day," Serena reminded her.
"You couldn't expect it to work that fast."

"Look, it's just not going to happen," Mina sighed.

"What is the matter with the two of you?" Serena asked, annoyed.  "Did
that youma do something besides take your pens?  This isn't like you at
all!  Whether you have your pens or not, you're still Sailor Scouts,
you're still the Princesses of your planets, and you're still my
guardians and my Court!" By now, Serena was almost shouting, "You might
have given up on yourselves, but I am not going to give up on you, so
you can forget it.  So you can't use your powers right now!  So what?
Deal with it."  Serena got up and stomped out of the apartment without
even finishing her dinner.

Mina and Lita stared after her in complete and utter shock.  Neither of
them spoke until after they heard the front door slam shut.

"Whoa," Mina said.  "That was way harsh."

"Probably deserved though," Lita answered her.  "She's right, after all.
We're Sailor Scouts, we can beat anything, remember?"

"Yeah," Mina agreed.  "Anything!"

Both of them were standing up, looking at each other in determination.
"We'll get our pens back, or they'll get them for us, but we will get
them back.  And when we do..."

"The bad guys had better watch out!" Mina added.  "And the Negaverse
will wish they had never decided to mess with us!"

"Yeah!" they both shouted.

"Come on, let's catch up with Serena and tell her we're sorry," Lita
said.  "She never even got to finish eating after all."

Serena hadn't gone far.  She had reached the door to the apartment
building when she realized how hard she'd been on them.  She stood there
for a moment or two, regretting what she'd said, and the food that she
had left behind.  She was about to go back up and apologize when she saw
someone out on the street.

"Hi Travis, hey Crystal," she grinned.  "Another `study' date?"

"Serena," Travis almost glared at her, though there was humor mixed in.
"Remind me, the next time you go out with Darien, to find a table in the
same restaurant and heckle you the whole time."

"But Travis," Serena mock whined, "I just asked a question."

"No, we're not on a study date, we're on a real date," Crystal answered
impatiently.  She expected a sarcastic reply from Serena.

"Cool," Serena replied.  "About time."

Travis blinked, surprised.

"Well, it is," she shrugged.  "It's the first time I've seen you really
interested in a girl since you came.  I was starting to wonder if there
was something wrong with you," she grinned.

"Let me assure you, there's nothing wrong with him, he was just waiting
for a girl of quality," Crystal remarked, grabbing hold of Travis' arm.

"Then I guess I can say it, can't I?" Serena grinned.

Travis didn't know what she was up to, but had the feeling he wouldn't
much care for it, so he shook his head.  It was too late.

"Travis and Crystal sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G," Serena started to
sing, badly.

Crystal clenched her hands into fists and seemed about to go after the
girl when Travis stopped her.

"Fair one," he said, causing Serena to stop abruptly.  "It doth wound me
most severely to hear thee mock my heart this way.  Canst it be that
thou dost not care for my sensitivities or those of my fair companion?"

"Okay!  I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Serena said, backing away.  She turned as
she heard her name called and smiled as she saw it was Lita and Mina who
were calling for her.  "I've got to go," she said, running over to them.

Crystal looked after her.  "I don't understand what just went on," she
said.  "And... why haven't you ever talked that way to me?"

Travis grinned and tucked his arm through hers to lead her away.  "Come
on," he said, "I'm hungry and I'll explain it while we eat."

As they walked away, they heard a burst of laughter behind them, then
all three girls started chanting, "Travis and Crystal, sitting in a
tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.  First comes love, then comes marriage..."

"Then comes Serena in a baby carriage!" Travis turned around and yelled
back.  "Sister dearest," Travis muttered to himself, "the next time thou
dost go on a date with thy paramour, prepare thyself for trouble."

Crystal waited until they were out of sight of the girls before stopping
and pulling Travis to a stop.  "What was that all about?" she asked.

"What?" he asked, surprised.  "It was just teasing."

"No, that Middle English you were using.  Isn't it supposed to be a
romantic language used by poets to talk about their girlfriends?"
Crystal hinted.

"Maybe originally," Travis conceded, "but I just use it because it bugs
my sister.  For some reason or other, she really doesn't much care for
it, so I use it to tease her."

Crystal stared at him for a long moment.  "You can be so dense," she
said.  "Come on, let's go eat."

"Wait, what did I do?" Travis asked, running after her.

*He even has a special way of talking to her!  I mean, I know she's his
sister, but why does he have to be so involved with her all the time?*
Crystal sighed quietly.  *Well, at least he's all mine for the rest of
the night.*


Serena, Lita, and Mina had decided to go to the amusement park after
dinner.  As Lita put it, "The world doesn't need saving, and we need to
get our minds off of this morning, so let's go have some fun!"

Mina agreed, "There's already been two fights today.  There's no way
they'll have another youma out."

"I wish Reenie could come with us," Serena said as they walked in
through the gates.  "She would have enjoyed this."

"We could go pick her up," Lita said.

"No, Mom said I wasn't supposed to do that, if I grounded her for a good
reason, she should stay grounded.  And it's only for one night."  *I'm
sorry Reenie.  I promise we'll do something fun together tomorrow.*  Her
thoughts fled as she saw something in front of her.  "Cotton candy!" she
cried, running over there.  "I love cotton candy! One please," she told
the booth attendant.

"Serena!  How can you eat after that big dinner?" Lita said in shock.

"Because her stomach doesn't have a bottom, and her mind doesn't know
when it should quit," a sarcastic voice said from behind them.

"Hi Raye," Mina said, turning around.  "We didn't know you'd be here."

"The temple's clean, and Chad decided he needed to practice his singing.
I decided I needed a night out," Raye replied, smiling at her.

"What?  You decided to leave instead of bashing him?  You must be going
soft on him," Serena smiled with her mouth covered in pink candy.  "I
knew he'd wear you down eventually."

"I am not going soft on him!" Raye argued back.  "I just decided to wait
and bash him when I get back!"

"You like him," Serena responded.

"Will you stop that!  You're being a real pain, Serena," Raye said.

Serena stuck her tongue out.

"I want to go on the roller coaster," Lita said, pointing to it.  "Let's
go!"

"Kind of scary, don't you think?" Serena said, looking at it.

"Don't be such a baby," Raye said.

"I am not a baby!" Serena snapped back.  "I just don't like roller
coasters."

"Oh come on, Serena, it'll be fun," Mina told her, pulling her along.

Serena listened to the people screaming as they went down another hill.
"How can you call that fun?" she gulped.

"Come on," Lita said, getting in line.  Serena reluctantly allowed
herself to be added to the line, and even more reluctantly got on the
ride.

Five minutes later, the ride jolted to a stop.  "Ooohh," Serena moaned
clutching her stomach.  "I wish I hadn't had that extra slice of pie at
Lita's."

"I always said your stomach would get you into trouble," Raye grinned.
A yawn from Mina interrupted them.

"Today must have been more tiring then I thought," said Mina, covering
another yawn.

"Yeah," Lita agreed, finding Mina's yawning contagious.

"I don't think it's just us," Raye said, looking around.  "I'm sensing
evil vibes around here."

"Mina," Serena whined, "you said we wouldn't have to fight a third time
today."

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" Mina said.

Raye was looking around quickly using her senses to their fullest.
"There," she said, pointing unobtrusively to the ride's operator, a
seemingly normal human.

"Call the others," Serena told Lita, looking around for a secluded place
to transform.  The three other girls covered the entrance to the small
tent she stood in as she raised her hand in the air.  "MOON CRYSTAL
POWER!" she called, just barely remembering not to add `duo' at the end.

"Reenie doesn't have a communicator, does she?" Lita asked, having
already called the others.

"No, she doesn't," Sailor Moon said.  "There's no time for anyone to go
pick her up either, she's just going to have to sit this one out.
Besides, she's grounded, remember?"

"Can you do it with just three of you?" Raye asked worriedly.

"I sure hope so," Sailor Moon answered.  She started to leave the tent
and head toward the disguised youma.

"Wait," Mina told her.  "Wait until the roller coaster comes back down,
we don't want people stuck up there."

"Good thinking, Mina," Sailor Moon said.  "Please stay out of the way,"
she asked the other three.


In a cafe, Travis and Crystal were sitting and talking easily with each
other.  Crystal was still laughing at one of Travis' jokes when his
watch beeped.

Travis instantly sobered and looked at it.  "I'm sorry, Crystal," he
said sincerely.  "I've got to go."

"It's something to do with Serena, isn't it?" she asked, her good humor
gone in a second.  His expression confirmed it.

He started to make an excuse, but her expression was speaking too.  It
was obvious she didn't want to hear it.  He stood there for a moment,
undecided, then it beeped again.  "I'll see you tomorrow, okay Crystal?"

She didn't answer, and he walked slowly out the door.

"Oh, I could hate that Serena," she muttered to herself.  "Why couldn't
I have had him to myself for just one night?"

Travis looked back at her sitting alone before finding a deserted place
to transform.


As the roller coaster came to a stop and the people stepped out, Sailor
Moon stepped out of the tent.  "Hold it Negatrash!" she called.  All
around her people turned to stare.

"It must be that new attraction I heard about," one person in the crowd
whispered to another.  "It's very well done, that really looks like the
descriptions of Sailor Moon."

"Yeah, but against a human?  That doesn't fit the script," another
answered.  "Probably she started a little early, and the one she's
supposed to be fighting hasn't gotten here yet."

"Well, whichever, I'm not going to miss this, I just hope the special
effects are as good as the costume," a third person said.  The others
around him seemed to agree.

The seeming human looked up.  "Sailor Moon," he said softly.  "How nice
to see you."  The people around stared in awe as his shape shifted into
a youma with wheels for feet.

"How realistic," they whispered, "How did they manage that?"

The youma skated towards the single Scout, and she started backing away
nervously.  Suddenly a rail blasted towards Sailor Moon.  She jumped
upwards, managing to get out of the way in time, but the rail clipped
her foot, throwing her off balance.  The youma raced towards her as she
landed on her bottom.

"We've got to do something," Lita muttered, under the cover of the
yelling crowd.

"But what?" Mina asked, worriedly.

Raye stepped forward, pulling out one of her anti-evil charms.  She
started chanting under her breath then threw it at the monster's
unprotected back.  "Evil Begone!" she called as the charm adhered to the
youma.  The paralysis didn't last long, but it was enough time for
Sailor Moon to get back on her feet.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!" she yelled, throwing her tiara at the youma.  Her
eyes grew wide in horror as she yelled out, "STOP!"  The tiara stopped
just inches from the face of one of the fair goers who had decided to
get a close up picture of the show.

Lita dove through the crowd and pushed the sightseer roughly out of the
way.  "Hey!" he yelled, incensed.  "I'm going to tell the management on
you."

"Don't you get it yet?" she yelled back.  "This isn't a show!"

Sailor Moon was still panting in relief over not having hit the innocent
and didn't notice the youma gearing up for another attack.  Mina did.
Without thinking about it, she threw herself at the monster in an almost
exact repeat of Lita's maneuver.  Mina and the youma crashed into a
nearby turnstile.  The youma growled impatiently, and threw the
interfering girl away from her.

"MINA!" Sailor Moon, Lita, and Raye all screamed out as Mina hit a wall
and was still.  Seeing the still body of the young girl, the crowd
suddenly seemed to realize that this was not a show.  That was when the
panic started.  People screamed and ran in all directions.  Lita and
Raye pushed through the streams of people to try to get to their friend.

Sailor Moon turned back towards the youma, her face hard and set.
"You'll pay for that," she said almost impassively.  "MOON TIARA MAGIC!"
she sent out again.  It was quickly joined by "SOLAR FLARE!"  The two
attacks hit the monster, driving it backwards.

Sailor Moon looked up at the new Sailor.  He was looking worriedly at
their downed friend.  "How is she?" he asked as he landed next to his
sister.

"I don't know," Sailor Moon admitted.  She turned to look at Mina.  She
was still lying still with Lita and Raye working quickly over her.  She
turned back to the youma to see him on the roller coaster.  His wheeled
feet fit perfectly on the rails and he was racing away at a high rate of
speed.

"Oh, no," Sailor Moon muttered to herself.  "Not there again."

"What?" Sailor Sol asked as he jumped on the track and started running
up the slats.

"Nothing," she said, running after him.

They reached the top of the hill to see the youma already going up the
next one.  Sailor Sol jumped onto one of the rails and started sliding
quickly down to the bottom.  Sailor Moon reluctantly got on the other
one to follow.  Her high heeled boots slid off of the rail causing her
to fall.  She shrieked as she landed on her bottom on the rail and
started sliding faster down the steep hill.  The youma turned at her
scream and saw her fall.  He shot out a steel rail that impacted into
the ride's rail right in front of her.  At the rate she was going, she
would smash into it extremely hard.  Her hands and feet tried to get a
grasp on the slats of the roller coaster, but she was going too fast.
She closed her eyes and braced for impact.

She suddenly felt herself grabbed and opened her eyes.  "Tuxedo Mask!"
she cried.

Tuxedo Mask was standing on the steel rail, having managed to get to
that spot seconds before Sailor Moon would have crashed into it.

"Is she all right?" Sailor Sol asked in concern as he looked at the two.

"She's fine," Tuxedo Mask assured him.  He put her gently on her feet,
and the three of them started climbing again.

There was a long straight-away at the top of the hill and the youma was
skating across it easily.  Sailor Moon stood at the top, staring at the
youma.  "We're never going to be able to catch him like this!" she said
in despair.

"We've got to try," Sailor Sol told her, running after the youma.
Sailor Moon looked over the side of the roller coaster.  After an
instant of dizziness, her eyes went to where Lita and Raye were still
leaning over a comatose Mina.  Her expression firmed, and she ran after
the others.  The youma seemed to be taunting them as it stood on the
edge of the next drop.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!" Sailor Moon yelled, throwing her tiara at the youma.
The youma skated backwards, and was over the hill before the tiara could
reach him.

Tuxedo Mask was the first to reach the bottom, with the other two not
far behind, Sailor Moon having managed to stay on her feet this time.
The youma was already climbing again.

"Why doesn't it stand and fight?" Sailor Moon yelled.

The youma turned suddenly and threw more rails at the Scouts below it.
It took some fancy footwork, but none of the three got hit by the large
steel rails.  When they were finally able to stop jumping out of the
way, it became obvious that they were trapped.  Large steel rails were
around them like the bars of a cage.  Tuxedo Mask had managed to jump
out of the cage, and was standing on top of one of the rails.  He sent a
rose flying for the youma as the other two looked around.

Sailor Sol took out his sword.  "SUN SWORD SLASH!" he called, slicing
through the steel beams as if they were made of paper.  Rails fell from
the roller coaster, impacting the ground.  Luckily, most of the earlier
spectators had long since screamed and left.

The rose had hit one of the wheels on the youma's feet, fouling its
ability to move on the rails.  It had been high enough at the time that
it grabbed the top and pulled itself over instead of sliding back down
to the sword and tiara waiting for it down below.

With a sigh, the three started climbing again.  "Why doesn't it stand
still and fight?" Sailor Moon asked again.  "I am getting sick and tired
of this climbing up and sliding down.  Besides, I want to see how Mina
is doing."

"Watch out!" Tuxedo Mask yelled out, jumping upwards.  Sailor Moon and
Sailor Sol looked up to see the youma coming back at them.  It had
removed the rose from its wheels and was skating down the hill towards
them at a very fast rate.

Sailor Sol set himself.  "SOLAR FLARE!" he yelled, sending a gout of
flame at the youma.

His sister was right behind him.  "MOON TIARA MAGIC!" she cried, the
tiara heading towards the fast moving youma.

The youma was about to move out of the way when it was hit in the back,
throwing it headfirst into the attacks.  Tuxedo Mask reduced his cane
back to its normal proportions as he jumped downwards.

Sailor Moon didn't wait to be told what to do.  "MOON SCEPTER
ELIMINATION!" she cried, turning the monster into moon dust.  She turned
and looked over the side as she heard the sounds of emergency vehicles.
"I've got to go check on Mina," she told the others, trying to get down
as fast as she could.

"We don't belong here," Sailor Sol said to Tuxedo Mask.  "I want to see
how Mina is too, though."

"Serena will call and tell us," Tuxedo Mask told him.  "Let's get out of
here."  The two male members of the team jumped downward as well.

"Maybe Crystal will still be at the cafe and let me explain," Travis
said.  "If, that is, I can think of a good explanation for why I had to
leave so suddenly."

Darien smiled.  "I don't think telling her the whole truth is a good
idea," he agreed.

The two boys walked to the cafe, finding, as Travis had expected, that
Crystal had left some time before.  "That lady sure didn't seem too
happy," the cashier told the two young men.

"She's going to kill me," Travis moaned.  "Either that or refuse to
speak to me, and I don't know which would be worse."

"You really like her, don't you?" Darien asked.

"Yeah, I do," Travis agreed.  "Oh, it's not the `destined to be together
forever' love that you and Serena have, but I like being around her.
She's... special."

"Go for it," Darien told him seriously.  "Don't wait around for the
`destined to be together forever' kind of love.  You'll just be cheating
yourself."

"Do you ever wish you didn't have it?" Travis asked.  "Do you ever wish
that you didn't know?"

Darien thought about it for a short time.  "For myself?  No.  I love
Serena with all my heart and can't imagine life without her.  But... for
her.  Sometimes I wish that she didn't have it.  I'm afraid that one
day, she's going to start hating our love.  She'll start wishing she had
had a choice in the matter.  Start thinking of all the boys she never
got to meet because I was there and it `had' to be."

"Never happen, Darien." Travis shook his head quickly.  "She's never
going to wish different.  She loves you too much for that to happen.
Trust me, I know my sister's heart.  You're it."

Darien smiled his thanks at his younger blood brother.  He knew that
part of the reason they had had the conversation, was because it kept
them from thinking and worrying about Mina.  Still, Travis' words helped
a little part of Darien's soul that could never help... wondering.


Serena raced towards the people gathered around her friend.  "Is she
alright?" she called.

"Are you a family member?" one of the paramedics asked.

"No," Serena replied, "I'm just a friend.  We were here together, but I
got caught over there when that... monster showed up."

"Well, we're taking her to the hospital, so you're going to have to go
home now," the paramedic said as they loaded her into the ambulance.

"Can't I go with her?  Please?" Serena begged.

"I'm sorry, but only family can come with us. You need to get home and
reassure your parents that you're alright," the paramedic replied
gently.

"But who's going to tell her parents?" Serena said, bursting into tears.

"Doesn't she have any ID with her?" the paramedic asked the other.

A quick check showed she didn't, and Raye made sure they couldn't see
the purse she was hiding behind her back.

"What's her name?" he asked the three girls.  They just looked at him.

"Please let us go with her, please?" Serena pleaded.

"Let them come," the other said, "We need to get her to the hospital."

The girls didn't wait for more permission, jumping aboard and finding
out of the way places to sit.  Serena sat close enough so that she could
hold Mina's hand, but still be out of the way.  "Why did you do it?" she
whispered.  "Why did you throw yourself at him that way?"

They arrived at the hospital and Raye went to call Mina's parents, as
the others waited impatiently.

Fifteen minutes later, Mina's parents ran in.  Her mother ran up to the
girls, while her father went to talk to the nurse.  "What happened?  How
is she?"

"There was a youma attack," Lita told her, "Mina got thrown into a wall
during it.  She hasn't woken up since."

"Oh, my poor baby!" Mrs. Aino. cried.  The three girls tried to calm
down the crying mother, as Mr. Aino came over with a large amount of
paperwork that had to be filled out.

It was another ten minutes before the doctor walked into the waiting
room.  She wasn't very tall, with shoulder length, dark black hair, but
she exuded an air of self-possession and professionalism.  "Mr. and Mrs.
Aino?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," Mrs. Aino said, standing up immediately.  The others were on
their feet as well, waiting for the news.

"Dr. Mizuno," Serena said desperately, recognizing Amy's mother.  "Is
Mina going to be all right?"

"Serena?" Dr. Mizuno asked, surprised.  Then she shook her head.  *The
only surprise is that Amy isn't here,* she thought to herself, *I should
have known Serena and the others were here since it was Mina that was
hurt.*  "She took a nasty bump to her head, and there is a large amount
of swelling, we won't be able to see how bad it is until the swelling
goes down.  She's a little woozy right now, but I don't think there's
any permanent damage.  I would like to keep her here for a couple of
days for observation."

Mrs. Aino almost fainted in relief, her husband holding her up
protectively.

"Can we go see her?" Lita asked immediately.

"Not tonight, Lita," Dr. Mizuno said softly.  "Why don't you girls go on
home, and come back during visiting hours tomorrow."

"But she is awake now, right?" Raye asked.

"Yes, Raye, she is," Dr. Mizuno answered.  "And the first thing she said
was, `Boy, is that orderly cute'."

Everyone chuckled at that.

"Same old Mina," Lita laughed.  "There's nothing wrong with her brain
that wasn't always wrong with it."

"I'll call and ask my dad to pick us up," Serena said, going towards the
phones.


At the Tsukino house, Ellen and Ken were watching a movie they had
rented.  "Isn't it nice to have the kids out of the house for once?"
Ellen asked her husband.

"Reenie's still here," Ken reminded her, but he was smiling too.
"You're right," he answered, "It is nice not to have to worry about the
children for a couple of hours."  They settled back down to watch the
romantic movie.

The phone rang and Ken sighed, getting up to answer it.  "Tsukino
residence," he said.

"The hospital?!?" was the next thing Ellen Tsukino heard.  Her head
jerked up.  *No, Serena! Something must have happened!*

"I'll be right there," Ken Tsukino said, then put down the phone.

"Is Serena all right?  What happened?  How badly is she hurt?" the
concerned mother said in a rush.

"Calm down, Ellen," Ken said gently.  "Serena's fine.  Mina was hurt in
a youma attack and they went to the hospital with her.  Serena asked if
I would pick up her, Lita, and Raye, and take them home."

Ellen almost collapsed in relief, as Ken turned off the videotape, gave
her a kiss, and left the house to go pick up the girls.

Ken drew up in front of the hospital to see the three girls waiting for
him.  Serena took the front seat, while the other two settled in the
back.

"What happened?" he asked as he headed for Lita's apartment.  "I thought
you just went to Lita's for dinner."

"I did," Serena replied, "and Mina was there too, so we just decided to
go to the amusement park.  There was a youma there, and Sailor Moon
showed up, but without the other Scouts.  So I guess, Mina decided to
help out."  Serena's voice was dull.  "She got thrown into a wall and
hit her head.  She was out for a long time, though Dr. Mizuno said she
had woken up by the time we called you."

Mr. Tsukino, Raye, and Lita were all looking at Serena, worried by the
lifelessness in her tone.  Lita would have said something about it, if
they hadn't reached her apartment then.  In the flurry of activity as
she got out of the car, no one heard Serena say, "It's my fault."
----------------

Well, we've come to the end of another installment.  Tell me what 
you thought, at Jendra@aol.com and go visit my site at 
http://members.aol.com/Jendra