Part 13 "Relationships and Revelations" That same Saturday morning, after Raye had been taken home by Chad, Mrs. Anderson turned a stern expression on her children. Sitting down, she took a sip of tea before speaking, "Girls, what Raye did today was wrong. It's very dangerous to go out by yourselves." She looked pointedly at Lita who had the common sense to blush. "I want you to promise that you'll ask me if it's okay to go somewhere." "We promise, Mommy!" both Lita and Amy responded in unison. "Now, girls, I need to do some work around the house. Do you think you can play quietly 'til I'm done?" "Yes Mommy," Lita squeaked, "We were playin' a game when Raye came to the window." She grunted slightly when Amy discretely poked her in the ribs. Mrs. Anderson gave Amy an odd look before smiling. "Are you done with breakfast?" Both girls nodded. "Okay, you go play quietly, AFTER you both brush your teeth. Then maybe we'll go to the park this afternoon." "'Kay Mom," Amy chirped and slid off her chair headed for the bathroom. Lita wasn't long in following her sister after grabbing one last slice of toast. Mrs. Anderson shook her head slightly before starting to clear the table. She would normally let the girls help but it was Saturday and she figured that she could do it faster by herself. After the girls had brushed their teeth and were in their room, Lita turned to Amy, giggled, and asked, "So, Amy, why am I a genius?" Amy bit her lip and scrunched up her face in concentration. After a few seconds, Lita started to get impatient; she was about to prompt Amy, when Amy said, "'Cause you gave me a missing piece of the puzzle." Then her features took on a despondent look. "Whatsa matter?!?" Lita asked. She'd never seen Amy look so serious before. Walking over to sit on the bed beside her sister, Lita nudged Amy and said, "You don't look so good, Sis." "Well Lita, to confirm my theory, I need to thoroughly examine Reenie's Key," Amy said softly, "The question is how do we get it?" "Hmm... Serena could ask Reenie to see it. S'pose not... Well... I don't think Serena would be up to taking Reenie's Key. Serena really isn't a thief and considering that Serena's been treated really nice..." she trailed off and shrugged. "We might have to tell Reenie," Amy said heavily, "And I don't want that because it could alter the timeline." "But if we go back to being fourteen, won't the timeline already be affected?" Lita questioned. "Sis, I'm not up on my temporal mechanics or whatever you guys call it but I don't think telling Reenie would hurt." "But, Lita, what if it doesn't work?!" Amy protested. She immediately took on a sheepish expression. "Sorry, it's just with Raye acting like this and then yesterday." She looked over at Lita and asked, "Was Mom really mad at you?" Lita squirmed a little before nodding, "She said that she was proud of me for sticking up for you. Just that she didn't want me fighting." Lita sighed, "I guess I got off pretty easy really." Lita had always been active when she was a child but had never really gotten into fights. It wasn't until after her parents' deaths as a teen that she began to get into such trouble. "Say, what did Mommy want to talk to you about?" "Mom wanted to know if I was having trouble at school," Amy said, "I assume letting my academic performance drop like that was quite a shock." She saw Lita's quizzical look and, after an uncomfortable silence, continued, "I guess I just didn't want the kids to tease me, Sis." Amy admitted, "I saw a way of changing things. I was just planning for the worst." Lita didn't ask Amy to elaborate. She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer. "Anyway, Amy, how do we get a look at Reenie's Key?" "Let me give it some thought," Amy answered, "We should start playing something before Mom thinks we're too quiet." Lita grinned evilly. "'KAY... TAG YOU'RE IT!!!" she howled with glee and, after tagging her rather astonished sister, took off out of the bedroom at a breakneck pace. Amy gave a growl of her own and started out after her sister. Today was going to be fun! Mrs. Aino walked from the kitchen into the living room. Mina and Carrie were sitting in front of the television watching it with entranced fascination. Carrie had arrived shortly after ten and both young girls had been captivated by watching cartoons for almost an hour. Mina was surprised how much she enjoyed them. She had never been one for cartoons or comic books like Serena and Raye. Having her friend Carrie there only served to enhance the enjoyment. "Girls, why don't you two go play now," Mrs. Aino suggested, "You've watched enough television for awhile." "Aw! Please Mommy?" Mina pleaded turning to look pleadingly at her mother, "Just a little longer?" "No," Mrs. Aino said, "You've been watching TV since you got up. Go along now and play." She grinned to herself, "It's nice and sunny outside. Either go play in the front yard or up in your room." "Com'on Carrie," Mina grumbled, "Let's go find something to do in my room." Taking her friend's arm, she started to drag Carrie out of the living room and up the stairs. Mina's mother shook her head and went back to reading the morning paper before starting her housework. She knew that Mina would stay in her bedroom and play quietly, at least for a little while, she hoped. "Jeez, I wanted to watch those guys," Mina confessed as she went up the stairs. Carrie who was behind her frowned slightly. "What guys, Mina?" "You know, the hunky ones on TV with the..." Mina trailed off at the odd look that Carrie was giving her. "What?!?" "Why would you want to sit and watch guys? Boys can be so GROSS!" Artemis who was in the room gave a disgusted growl and flicked his tail at Carrie. She giggled and, reaching out to pet him, commented, "Don't worry, kitty, you're not a boy!" Artemis let out a mew. "He's not?!?" Mina asked. She giggled, "Silly, Artemis isn't a boy," Carrie explained, her tone showing exasperation, "Artemis is a kitty." "Uh... yeah." "So what should we play?" Mina tapped her lower lip for a few moments before saying, "Carrie, how would you like to be a rock star?!?" Carrie's expression turned dubious, "Just think, lotsa fans... you can do whatever you want!" Mina's voice started to rise, "You don't have to listen to your parents." "Really?!?" Carrie asked. "You mean rock stars don't have to listen to their parents?" "Nope, they get to do whatever they want, eat what they want, and go to bed when they want!" Mina grinned; she was forming an idea. Carrie nodded excitedly, "'Kay, first thing to do... Gotta get ready for a show we're doing." Wrapping her arm around Carrie, she said, "First we take care of our clothes... then make-up, and then hair!" With that, she dragged her friend out of the room. Artemis thought rolling his eyes, A few minutes later, Carrie gave Mina a dubious look. "Ah Mina, why are you wearing that funny hat?" "I like it," Mina responded, "'Sides, Carrie, I need something to hide my eyes." Carrie rolled her eyes. Mina was always making out to be some cool star or something. Sometimes it was neat, other times it was worse than sitting next to a boy! "But what do we play the music on, Mina?" Carrie asked, "I mean we don't have inst-insta-err... you know the thingies with strings." "Carrie, Carrie, Carrie..." Mina said while shaking her head, "Have you lost all faith in me, babe?" Mina dug around her room and came up with a children's plastic cassette player. "Mina... what's `faith' mean?" She'd never heard Mina use that word before. "I never fib," Mina said. That got a double eye roll from Carrie. Mina might be honest but if it meant getting out of trouble, she wasn't above bending the truth to meet her needs. "Uh Mina, I don't think that'll work," Carrie stated after a few moments of examining the device. She was about to add more when her friend cut her off. "You're right. It ain't big enough," Mina agreed. Tossing it aside, she left her room and quietly headed downstairs. "We need something with a lot of power!" Her eyes twinkled as her gaze fell upon the entertainment system in the living room. "Come on!" Mina whispered out and then snuck across the kitchen doorway into the living room. "Mina... won't your mommy be mad?" Carrie asked hesitantly. "Nah," Mina replied softly, "We're just going to play some music. Not like watchin' TV." Softly, Mina padded across the living room. "We have to be quiet or our fans will find out." "You mean we have to sneak in here OR your MOMMY will find out," Carrie hissed. "Let's just go play somethin' else. Outside like your mommy said." She had no intention of getting caught up in one of Mina's crazy schemes again. The "flying toaster" idea hadn't gone over very well. "Aw come on, Care-Care," Mina said patronizingly, "We're just going to have a little harmless fun." Carrie sighed, Not that Carrie minded but they were supposed to be playing. Carrie seemed reluctant so Mina said, "I'll tell you what. We'll sing two songs and then I'll see if the others can come over and play with us." "Well... I guess so," Carrie agreed. She didn't really want to ruin her best friend's fun and she seemed to be willing to compromise. "Good!" Mina declared happily. Quickly selecting a CD to insert, she examined the controls for a moment before managing to put the CD into the tray properly. "Now to give it the right feel," Mina muttered to herself. She adjusted the equalizer to maximize the bass and, in addition, Mina cranked the volume to what she, as a teenager, considered an acceptable level. "Ready?" Carrie nodded. "Good." Reaching out, Mina pushed the play button, but nothing happened. She blinked and pushed the play button again. "What the..." Pushing the eject button, she looked at the CD quizzically for a moment before replacing it. Pressing the play button again nothing happened. "It's broke," she remarked crestfallen. "Mina, how do you know how it works?" Carrie asked quizzically. "Uh... I watched Daddy play music a lot." "Where's your daddy?" "Dunno," Mina answered, "I think he's doin' somethin' to the car." She looked over the stereo's controls. Sheepishly, Mina looked up and discovered the problem. Turning the source selection knob so that it was set to "CD player", she reached out and pushed the play button once again. There was silence for a moment, then the still morning air was shattered by the loud throbbing boom of the music as one of the heavier metal bands started warming up into the first song. The ruckus grew even louder as the lead vocalist started to sing. "IT'S TOO LOUD!!!" Mina cried. Trying to turn it down, she desperately started turning the volume control. However, she only managed to make it play even louder before the knob popped off in her hand. "Uh oh!" "Uh Mina, I think my mommy's calling me," Carrie said and started to back out of the room. She was just about to the doorway when she turned and ran right into Mrs. Aino and a none too pleased looking Mr. Aino as well. "MINA!!!!" both her parents shouted over the din. "OH NO!!!" Mina yelled horrified. Desperately, she started pushing buttons. The music suddenly cut off and the tray started to slide out. All that was left was a hum. Mina was about to smile but the CD in the tray shot out and went flying through the window across the room. "Oops!" Mina thought. That's when the speakers started to vibrate, their motion easily visible. "It's gonna blow!!!" Mina cried and, running, jumped on and then over the couch. Then it was suddenly quiet. Peeking over the sofa by standing on her tiptoes, Mina saw her father standing by the wall, the stereo's plug in hand. He had an angry look on his face. Sheepishly, Mina looked over towards her mother. Her mother was splitting her looks between Carrie and Mina. "What on earth do you think you were doing?" she finally managed to ask. "Ah... playing rock stars?" Mina meekly squeaked out, her parents just glared at her, "Uh... want an autograph, Mommy?" She winced at her mother's scowl. Ten minutes later found Carrie standing in one corner of the Aino kitchen. Carrie stifled a sigh. She hated staring at the wall; it wasn't much fun to look at. One consolation was she got to listen to Mina being scolded. Mina's father was doing most of the scolding and he had a manner of NOT yelling. It sent shivers up Carrie's spine. If he was THAT mad and wasn't yelling, she fervently hoped she was never around to get him mad enough to yell. Another consoling fact was that her mother had been there for almost five whole minutes and the fatal words, "she'll be punished," hadn't been said. Carrie thought. Mrs. Aino had called the little girl's mother and Carrie's mother had said she would be right over, which confused Carrie. She desperately hoped her mother would understand and standing in Mrs. Aino's corner was all that would happen to her. Up in Mina's bedroom, Mina was also in a corner. She was sent there after her father had scolded her for playing with the stereo. A stereo, he emphasized, that was off-limits to her! This had been Mina's silent chant for the past five minutes. She really wanted to go play, and apologize to Carrie but the consequences of moving from the corner without permission had been made absolutely clear. She had all this energy and now no way to dissipate it. Artemis sat smugly on the bed watching his young charge. He wasn't one to be malicious in his humor but Mina's power to destroy anything electrical had finally landed her in hot water. "You know Mina, you shouldn't play with stuff that you aren't allowed to use," he remarked dryly. This earned him a glare from Mina who poked her tongue out at him before turning her head back towards the corner. Artemis chuckled softly, this was going to be fun. Mina suppressed a whine, At two o'clock that afternoon, the Tsukino home was quiet. Luna and Serena were taking naps in Serena's room. Reenie was doing homework downstairs with her aunt so she wouldn't disturb her little sister. Luna had had a hectic day especially when she tried to keep up with Serena and Reenie. Both little girls seemed to have boundless energy. Luna seemed to have a lot of energy as well, she just used more because of her size. However, Luna was always the lighter of the two sleepers and a gentle beeping noise roused her. Looking around, she saw that Serena's communicator was making the noise. Padding over softly, she turned it on and found Amy's face looking at her. "Luna?" Amy asked surprised, "Where's Serena?" "Taking her nap," Luna said softly, "What is it, Amy?" "I've found out something important," Amy explained after a pause, "Luna, we need Serena to get Reenie's Key." "I think that would be hard without telling her," Luna mused, "Reenie keeps that key pretty close to her." "I know," Amy agreed while taking on an uncomfortable look, "Luna, I think we need to tell Reenie. The Key could well... be THE `key' to solving our problem." "I'll tell Serena then," Luna said, "But we probably won't be able to get it to you until tomorrow. Serena's parents are going out tonight and leaving a baby-sitter." "That's okay, Luna," Amy said with a knowing smile, "After what happened to Raye this morning, I think I'll be content to wait. I wouldn't want Serena or Reenie to get into trouble." "What happened to Raye?!?" Luna demanded. "Uh... gotta go. Mom's coming, bye!" And with that, the communicator fell silent leaving Luna to stare at it for several seconds. she wondered, With that Luna settled back down to wait for Serena to wake up. That evening after supper, Serena was very pleased to see that her baby-sitter for the evening was going to be Molly. The older girl was still fourteen. Nothing seemed to have changed about her except she seemed a lot taller. Shingo was staying over at a friend's house. He had refused to stay with two little girls and be baby-sat. So it was only Reenie, Serena, and Molly who were left in the house. "Let's play!" Serena practically shouted. Reenie was ready to indulge her sister but never got the chance. "Sorry Serena," Molly said, "Your mommy left strict instructions." She smiled internally as Serena's face fell. "First, we get your bath." "But it ain't bed time!!!" Serena whined, "Please Molly?!? I don't wanna go bed now!" "Now Serena," Molly explained, "I'm not going to make you go to bed yet." Molly added, "Your mommy got us a movie to watch. You just gotta take a bath and get your pajamas on." "Can we have popcorn?!?" Her stomach growled slightly as if to emphasize the request. "No but your mommy did leave us some snacks," Molly said, "Now Serena, you go upstairs and I'll be up in a minute." "'Kay," Serena chirped and then skipped up the stairs towards her bedroom. When Serena was in her room Luna said, "Serena, Amy called." "Yeah?" Serena said, pausing momentarily in her undressing, "What'd she want, Luna?" "She wanted me to tell you that we need to have a look at Reenie's Key." Luna explained, "She thinks that it might help her find a solution. You're probably going to have to tell Reenie about us." Serena smiled broadly. "Wicked cool!" she declared, "I was going to tell Reenie anyways." "What?!?" Luna asked in a semi-shocked tone. "Well she's treats me really really nice and I'm feelin' a little guilty for the way I treat MY Reenie." Serena struggled into her bathrobe, "See Reenie defends me and even got spanked 'cause of me. I want to make that up to her." "Serena, are ya ready?" the voice of Molly coming down the hall cut the rest of the conversation short. Molly opened the door and smiled, "Good girl!" she complimented, "You got all undressed by yourself." "Yep!" Serena squeaked happily. "Well then, Serena, let's go get your bath," Molly said, "Then we can watch the movie." Happily, Serena complied and, taking Molly's hand, was guided into the bathroom. Once Molly had helped Serena wash in the stall, she helped the girl into the furo. Serena slid into the warm water and gave a giggle of delight. "Now Serena, I'll be right back," Molly informed her, "I'll go get Reenie." "'Kay!" Serena squeaked and gave another giggle. Molly left the room and went down the stairs. Looking around, she saw Reenie sitting on the couch. "Reenie, come take your bath with Serena." Reenie, wishing to uphold her image, scowled. "Aw Molly... I'm seven. I don't wanna take a bath with a little kid. I'll take one after Serena's done." "Reenie, I thought ya liked Serena. You were going to play with her before," Molly commented, "In fact, you were playing a game with her when I got here." Reenie grumbled out, "Okay, okay... I'll come have my bath." She reluctantly got off the couch and started to plod towards Molly. "You can drop the act," Molly said. She couldn't hide her smile. "Reenie, you really like Serena and I think taking a bath with her won't really bother you." Turning, Molly went up the stairs to check on Serena. Giving a sheepish grin, Reenie went up the stairs behind Molly, Not that she minded but she DID have an image to maintain. If it got around that she was actually NICE to a little kid, then it would ruin her completely. Reenie was annoyed, and she tried to make that clear to Molly without being rude. The problem was simple: Molly kept occasionally popping into the bathroom to check on them. It was rather frustrating to say the least. As Reenie saw it, Molly was usurping her authority over Serena and she didn't care for the competition either. Serena, however, was rather unaware of the whole situation. She was in a state of deep thought; Luna wouldn't've believed it. She had grown very attached to the little girl and Serena needed her support at the moment; Darien certainly wasn't giving his. As Serena did internal battle with herself, Reenie noticed that Serena was just sitting in the furo, unconsciously moving the water. She noticed that Serena had a rather serious expression on her face. Reaching out and tapping Serena on the shoulder, which caused her to jump, Reenie said, "Serena, are you in trouble?" "Huh?" Serena asked letting her worries pass for the moment. "Did you do something bad and then cover it up?" "No, Reenie," Serena answered somewhat confused, "Why?" "Well why aren't you playing then?" "I guess I don't feel like it," Serena said weakly. Reenie was about to ask why when Molly came into the room, "Okay Serena, Reenie, time to get out and dry off. We gotta get ya into some PJs so we can watch the movie." Serena complied and stood, Molly lifted her up and started to dry her off. Grumbling under her breath at Molly, Reenie also got up and started to dry off. Once Molly was finished drying Serena off, Reenie snapped, "I can get her changed," and taking Serena's hand led her into their bedroom. Molly looked confused for a moment and then grinned. She had just realized something. Reenie really cared for Serena, and that made her happy. The movie was passable. Reenie wasn't really interested in it, mainly because it was geared more towards Serena's age. She watched though and kept her comments to herself. Not that she didn't like the movie. The story WAS funny in parts... just there seemed an over abundance of CUTE characters running around saying things like, "Golly" and, "Ohmigosh!" whenever anything "terrible" happened. It was enough to make your teeth ache, at least in Reenie's opinion. Serena was captivated by another matter. Sure the show was entertaining but Serena had already seen the movie seven times. She could quote every line, word for word, of the major characters. About halfway through the show, Serena finally resolved that she would tell Reenie everything, or almost everything, and hope for the best. That's when she noticed Molly wasn't really paying attention to the show. Molly appeared to be off in a different world. Her eyes were watching the television but she didn't react to anything in the movie. Turning her head slightly, Serena asked, "Molly, is somethin' wrong?" "Huh?" Molly said dazed, "Is the movie over?" "No," Reenie snapped. She crossed her arms and took on a bored expression, "Molly, can we PLEASE go play?" "But the movie isn't over with," Molly said, "Serena would miss the ending." "That's okay, Moll. I've already seen this one seven times." That got an odd look from both Reenie and Molly, "'Sides, I wanted to know what the matter was." "What the matter was?" Molly asked looking intently at Serena, "Yeah, you weren't watching the movie," Serena explained, "You looked like you were thinking about something else." Molly sat stunned into position for several seconds. Reenie was staring at Serena incredulously, eyes wide, eyebrows to her hairline. It was a little disconcerting, "Uh well..." Molly replied not really sure what to say, "I uh..." she trailed off and looked at Serena again. "It's nothin'," she said, "I was just wonderin' how to tell somebody something." Serena considered Molly's answer, <`Tell somebody something'? Okay... let's see who would Molly know... Her mom? Nah, Molly's pretty open with her mom. Me??? Nope...> She tapped her lower lip for a few moments and then an idea struck her. "MELVIN!" Serena shouted. "A what?!?" Reenie asked. Reenie immediately shook the idea off. It was silly but she was becoming very uneasy by Serena's actions. "How'd you know about Melvin, Serena?" Molly asked in a shocked voice after several seconds. Turning to Reenie who was sitting on her left, Serena explained, "Melvin was/is Molly's boyfriend." "Eewww!!!" Reenie began, then it hit her, "Wait a minute! How'd you know that he's her boyfriend?!" "He's not," Molly answered, beginning to blush, "At least not yet..." "Ah ha!" Serena chirped turning back to Molly, "You're too scared to tell Melvin how you feel about him, right Moll?" She looked at Molly who had taken on a panicked expression, "I knew it!!! You better go after him before somebody else gets a hold of him." Molly's eyes grew wide. How on earth did Serena understand that she was actually in love with Melvin?!? It confused her but the little girl seemed to understand perfectly. It was rather distressing, even the part about somebody else getting Melvin. Even if she couldn't picture anybody else wanting him. "Serena?!?" Reenie asked in confusion, "What are you talking about?" "Reenie, Molly's majorly in love with Melvin!!!" Serena explained, "And Melvin's got the hots for Molly." This just caused Molly to blush, "But he's too scared to tell her how he feels and vice versa." She rubbed her hands and turned to the redhead, "You gotta go for it, Moll!" Molly whimpered and then promptly fainted. She was overwhelmed. She knew that Serena could be intuitive at times from her past baby-sitting jobs but this was just TOO much for her to handle. Serena had soon realized her blunder and, when Molly regained consciousness, she asked Molly if she had had a good nap. Molly at first asked how Serena could talk so well. Serena played innocent and said she hadn't been talking. She'd simply watched the movie and it was over. Reenie was too shocked, and unwilling, to say anything so she had remained silent. Molly decided to put the entire incident up to a really weird dream and, seeing that it was after seven, hustled Serena off to bed. Reenie said she was going to go to bed as well. This got Molly's interest up but she didn't push the matter; she had things to think about. Once the lights were off and Molly was out of earshot, Reenie turned over to Serena and in a stern voice hissed out. "Serena, I want to know who you really are?!" Serena slid out of bed and, standing beside the bed, said, "Okay Reenie, I'll tell you." The little girl took a deep breath and announced with a slight tremor, "I'm Serena Tsukino and I'm fourteen years old."