Legal Disclaimers (my lawyer made me:)
Sailor Moon is property of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, DiC,
Bandai, Mixxine and a lot more probably.  Bottom line is:  Sailor
Moon and it's characters are not mine so don't sue me.  You should be
used to the disclaimers by now.
______________________________________________________________________


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Remember When?  (3)
Summer Romances
Lady Jupiter (ladyjupiter@sailorjupiter.com)


	"Open it, open it!" Everyone crowded around Ken trying to
look at what was inside the envelope.  The carpet of Lita's apartment
was littered with all kinds of stuff.  Candy wrappers, empty bags of
chips, cookie boxes, napkins, forks, donut boxes, all the yummy
wholesome artificial flavored treats.
	It seemed like an eternity, but it finally came.  It seemed
like a miracle everyone got through it, but it happened.  Obviously,
no one ever doubted that Ami would get through it but there were
others who were pretty shaky.
	The school year had ended and everyone successfully passed
one year of school, the most hectic year they had seen so far.  The
past year, almost nightly, there were youma attacks, general battles,
and all the other lovely things.  But everyone studied hard and
managed to pass.  Ami got her report card with flying colors. Rei got
hers, satisfied with her grade.  Mina had hers, surprised she did so
well.  Lita had seen hers and felt she had earned the grade.  
Serena, well, Serena was Serena, but at least she had passed.
    Now, everyone was eager to find out about Ken.  Just a month or 
so before, one of the teachers recommended him to a professor friend 
and urged Ken to sign up for a field study program to study abroad 
for the summer.  Since it involved traveling and meeting new people, 
diverse cultures, and learning new things, Ken was eager.  Today was 
the day when he would find out if he would be accepted to this 
highly elite study trip.  Only the most talented, the people who 
showed the most potential was accepted each year and only thirty 
students from around the world was lucky enough.  He felt lucky just 
being one of the hundred who had made into the preliminary levels.
    "C'mon, Ken. Don't keep us in suspense."  Lita reminded him, 
shaking his arm.
    "I remember when the college mailed me the admittance papers.  I 
was a bundle of nerves.  That's probably how you feel right now, huh 
Ken?"  Darien asked.
    "You got accepted and so will Ken.  I'm sure he will."  Serena 
said enthusiastically.
    "Open already,"  Rei rushed.  They had been already sitting 
there, staring at the envelope in Ken's hands for the past five 
minutes.  There was no way anyone could open it with their psychic 
powers.
    "Okay, here goes."  Ken said as he started to lift the tab off 
the thick envelope.
    "Wait!"  Lita suddenly stopped him.
    "What now?"  Mina sighed.  She was dying of anxiety now.  
Although it wasn't her that was applying for the position, she was 
still on the edge of her seat.
    "I just want to say that even if Ken doesn't get accepted, it's 
not his fault. It's because the people who are picking the students 
for the class are obviously blind to the talent he has and it's 
their lost."  Lita said.  She didn't want Ken to feel rejected if he 
didn't get the position.
    Ken took a deep breath.  This was the moment he had been working 
for.  Those long hard hours over the canvas, slaving over getting 
everything right, restless nights mixing colors until just the right 
color came out, studying everything in nature, every shadow, every 
shape, and storing it into his memory, it all came down to this.
    It was only a split second, but it seemed like an hour for Ken 
to open the tab off the envelope. With shaking hands, Ken took out 
the papers and pamphlets.  He put them all on the table, small 
brochures, fill in sheets, everything he wasn't looking for.  Where 
is it, Ken thought.  He sifted through all the brochures, every 
page, looked through all the fill in form.  Why would they send me 
all these brochures and insurance forms if I wasn't accepted, he 
wondered panically to himself.
    "It's not here,"  he finally said, giving up the search.  "I'm 
not accepted."
    Lita reached for the discarded envelope on the floor and looked 
in it.  Sure enough, stuck to the inside of the envelop was a small 
index card.  She took it out carefully and read it.  "To Ken Miyake, 
after extensive study, our panel of judges have made their 
decision.  Your sample art work is truly magnificent. 
Congratulations, welcome to our summer study program."
    Speechless.
    Then, the room broke out in applause and cheers.  Everyone gave 
Ken a pat on the back.
    "I knew you could do it,"  Serena cheered and took a big bite 
out of her cupcake.
    Rei nodded and agreed, "Never had a doubt."
    Lita beamed an ear to ear grin at him, "Got you a little worried 
there didn't it?"
    "Never ever do that to me again,"  Ken said with a sigh of 
relief.  It was sneaky of them to hide the acceptance slip on the 
inside of the envelope.
    "I'm so happy for you,"  sincerely, Lita said and gave him a 
great sloppy kiss.
    "We'll all personally see you off at the airport, right?"  
Darien asked.
    "Right!"  Everyone agreed, even Lita, who was just a little 
hesitant.
    "A toast,"  Ami held up her soda glass.
    "To Ken,"  Mina seconded that toast by holding her glass up.
    "To Ken and we all hope he has a wonderful time. And hey, it's 
free!"  Lita joked and clinked glasses with everyone.


    Tick-tock-tick-tock...
    "Ken, don't you think it's kind of late? Maybe we should get 
back."
    "No, Leo.  Just a few more minutes."  Ken replied, putting his 
mug of root beer down.  This was one of the few places that he could 
sit alone and think.  This was where he would think about problems, 
if they involved Lita or was something he couldn't talk to Lita 
about.  Since it was all the way on the other side of town, where 
Ken lived, Lita hadn't even set foot in this place before.  The 
Kiddy Bar was what everyone called it.  One could play pool, shoot 
darts, or just talk in here, where they served non-alcoholic drinks.
    "Why'd you call me here anyway,"  Leo asked.
    "I'm thinking,"  Ken said and shushed him.  He drank another  
gulp of root beer, finished everything in the mug and put it down.  
    "Hey, when are you leaving for that art trip that you were 
accepted to?"  Leo asked, changing the subject.  Or so he thought.
    Ken smiled, "That's what I called you here for."
    "Go on.  Just don't tell me to climb into your suitcase or 
anything."  Leo joked.
    Ken shook his head, "No.  You're a good friend and everything, 
but that's not what I had in mind.  You know, you're one of the only 
guys I trust anymore.  That's why I want to ask you something."
    "Anything.  I owe you one."
    "You know Lita, don't you?"
    Leo chuckled, "Your girlfriend right?  She's...well...she's hard 
to miss."
    "Yeah, she's one of a kind."  Ken said sadly.  He had thought 
about backing out of the trip because he didn't want to spend 
anytime away from Lita, but she talked him into going.  "Since I'm 
going to be gone all summer, I have a favor to ask."
    "Ask it already.  You've been beating around the bush all night."
Leo insisted. He bowed his head and leaned across the table, his 
wind blown blonde hair falling over his aqua eyes.
    "Lita's different from anyone I've ever met.  She's sweet, she's 
caring, and everything a guy would want."  Ken started, smiling at 
all the nice things he could name about Lita.  "I want you to look 
after her.  She's tough and can stand almost anything.  But she's, 
well, she still needs someone to look out for her."
    "Doesn't she live alone?" Leo asked.  He remembered Ken 
mentioning something like that before.
    "Yeah, that's why.  What I wanted to ask you is just that.  Make 
sure she's okay while I'm gone.  I'm not telling you to go spy on 
her or anything, but just drop by once in a while or take her out 
just to keep her company."  Ken explained.  What am I getting myself 
into? He thought to himself.  He knew that he needed to make sure 
Lita was well looked after while he was gone.  He knew the scouts 
looked out for each other, but this was different.  Lita needed 
someone to watch over her like he would and Leo was the one guy he 
could trust to do just that.
    "So what you're saying is that while you're gone, I get to take 
her out?"  Leo summarized, trying not too sound to eager.
    "Kind of," Ken hated the sound of that, but knew that it was the 
only way. Besides, maybe it would be good if they saw other people 
so they wouldn't get on each other's nerves. The wise old saying 
goes, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
    "That's going to be weird if I just drop by and ask her out. 
I don't even know where she lives."  Leo rationalized.  It wasn't 
that he didn't want to do it.  It was just that he didn't want to 
seem too pushy.  It was strange what his friend was asking him to 
do. He had never seen anything or even heard of anything like that 
before.
    "I'll introduce you to her tomorrow and we'll have a great time 
at the arcade.  We'll meet you at the one in the mall."  Ken said.
	"Are you sure you want to go through with this?"  Leo asked
again.  This was highly strange, even for someone like Ken.
	"Yes, I'm sure."  Ken said in a determined tone.  No one
could change his mind now.
	"You know, we haven't hung out like this for a long time.  I
can't even remember the last time we sat down here and had a drink." 
Leo changed the subject.
	"Yeah, I've been busy."  Ken said absently.
	"Doing what?"
	"Sorry I didn't tell you this sooner, but I'm a super hero
and I fight evil with the Sailor Scouts,"  Ken answered
non-chalantly.
	Leo roared with laughter, "You're so funny.  I don't know how
you do it, but you crack me up."  He didn't believe any of the
fighting evil crap Ken was telling him.  Why should he?


	Just before fastening her earrings on, the door bell rang. 
Lita went to open it while carefully placing the last remaining
earring on the coffee table.
	"Hi, you're early."  She said, letting Ken in.
	"Is that bad?"
	"No, it's just that, you're never this early."  Lita replied
and went for her earring.  She slipped that on and turned to look at
him.  Ken was preoccupied with something lingering on his mind. His
eyes had a dark look in them as if he had been thinking of something
for a long time.  "What's wrong?"
	"Nothing is wrong,"  Ken lied.
	"C'mon, tell me the truth.  You have that look on your face
again."  Lita said, trying to get him to crack a smile.
	He managed a futile smile, "What look?"
	"The look you get when you can't open the front door and it's
locked and you can't find your keys."  Lita replied.  
	"Actually, there's something I want to talk to you about. 
Before I leave, I want to get it off my mind."  Ken started.
	"Uh oh, I'd better sit down for this, huh?"  Lita's mood
turned serious.  She had a feeling whatever he was going to bring up
was going to be big.
	"Yeah,"  Ken said and they both sat down.
	"Okay, I'm ready.  Go ahead."
	"While I'm gone, I don't want you to feel tied down to me. 
I want you to have fun and go out with other guys."  He said. 
Surprisingly, it wasn't as hard to get out as he thought it would be.
	"But I don't want to go out with other guys.  I want to go
out with you," Lita said back to him stubbornly.
	"But if you ever feel an urge to do it, I'm just telling you
that it's okay with me.  You won't be cheating or anything on me. 
Okay?"  Ken asked.
	"Yeah, I guess.  I doubt I will, though.  You feel free to go
date any girl you want over there, you hear?"  Lita repeated to him.
	"Deal,"  Ken replied.	
	"I guess this is good for the both of us.  We both get some
time off from each other.  A vacation."  She said glumly.
	"Now that that's settled, I'll treat you out for some
ice-cream at the mall and we'll go play video games after."  Ken said
and pulled her to her feet.  He pushed back all the sadness and put
on a smile.
	"You're on.  I'm going to kick your butt this time,"  Lita
said and followed him out.


	"Where could he be?"  Leo silently mumbled to himself.  He
was getting his butt whipped on the arcade game he was playing, but
he wasn't paying attention.  He hadn't even noticed that he was
playing the new "Sailor Moon and the Scouts" game that the arcade had
got just last week.  He wasn't even aware that the monsters were
surrounding his scout in the green.
	"Hey, you're going to lose a life.  Your vital status are way
low."  Someone said, snapping him back into reality.
	"Huh?"  Leo looked back at the screen, just in time to make
his scout leap out of harm's way.   "Oh, thanks Andrew."
	"You're a little off today.  Are you feeling okay?  Maybe the
heat's getting to you."  Andrew asked.  Leo was one of the regulars
at the Arcade and it was rare that he would ever not be interested in
the games.
	"Fine,"  he said absently and gave Andrew a dollar.  "Can you
get me some tokens."
	Andrew put the dollar into his pocket and fished out four
tokens to give to Leo.  Leo put them into the token slot and started
a new game, picking to play Sailor Jupiter again.
	"Good choice.  If I were playing, I'd pick her too."  Andrew
noticed.
	"Yeah, she has the best powers.  Kicks the monster's butt." 
Leo agreed.
	"Not to mention, the cutest."  Andrew slipped in and grinned. 
"But if Rita heard me say that, she'd kick my butt."
	"Wouldn't say it if it weren't true,"  Leo nodded and started
some serious game playing.
	The ding of the door telling everyone that someone had
stepped in again caught Leo's attention.  Inconspicuously, he turned
his head and looked at who came.  Sure enough, there was Ken and
Lita, looking around innocently.  Leo turned back at the game screen,
knowing that Ken would "stumble" into him eventually and introduce
the two of them.
	At first, they wandered around the arcade, pausing here and
there, looking at various games and people playing them.  Once, they
stopped to play the newest Street Fighter clone, but after, started
wandering again.
	"Hey, what are you doing here?"  Ken asked, playing his lines
out perfectly.
	"Oh, hi Ken.  I was just wasting my Saturday as usual."  Leo
replied, slipping a side glance at Lita.
	"Yeah, us too.  Oh, this is Lita."  Ken started the
introductions.  "Lita, this is my friend Leo."
	"Hi,"  Leo said.  The game was paused, the consistent beeping
in the background, annoying him.
	"Hi, nice to meetcha."  Lita replied, extending a hand.
	Taking the hand to shake it, he was surprised to feel the
strength of her.  Lita had the strength to crush every bone in his
hand if she wanted to.
	"Do you want to play this one?"  Leo asked, indicating the
still paused Sailor Moon game.
	Lita and Ken shared a knowing smile at each other which Leo
didn't notice.  Lita shook her head, "That's okay.  I played that one
enough."
	"What do you mean?  It's new.  It just came in last week." 
Leo said.  He had been playing that all week and not even once, had
he seen her here.
	"I played it somewhere else,"  Lita filled in mysteriously.
	"C'mon, I'll play you on this one then."  Leo said indicating
a VS fighting game next to the one he was currently playing.
	"Sure,"  Lita said. 
	Ken smiled to himself.  He was glad his two best friends were
getting along. He stood in back of them as they started their game
playing.  Right from the start, Lita was winning.
	"Aww, c'mon.  Did you see that?"  Leo said over the game.  He
was desperately pounding on his buttons, trying to launch some attack
at Lita's character, but Lita's graceful controlling was getting the
better end of the game.
	"I forgot to warn you.  She's really good,"  Ken said as if
he just remembered.  He grinned to himself, watching Lita kick Leo's 
butt.  
    

    In the living room, Lita sat staring blankly at the wall.  She 
tried to think of what to do.  Already, she had cleaned the house 
until it was spotless.  She tried to keep herself busy so she 
wouldn't think of Ken and how much she was already starting to miss 
him even though he left only  yesterday.
    As if to answer her thoughts, the phone rang.  Lita quickly 
picked it up, hoping desperately it was Ken from the airport or 
something.  
    "Hello, Lita here." 
    "Hi, Lita?"
    "Yes, who's this?"  Lita asked.  She recognized the voice, but 
she just couldn't put her finger on it.
    "I don't know if you remember me, but we met in the Arcade-"  
    "Leo?  Is that you?"  Instead of wondering why he was calling, 
Lita wondered how he got a hold of her phone number.
    "Yes. You remember me?"  He was flattered, if not a little 
nervous.
    "So what's up?"
    "I called to ask you if you'd like to go out to lunch with me,"  
he blurted. He was never that good in asking girls out.
    The hesitation Lita had wasn't unnoticeable.  She rolled that 
idea around in her head.  She wasn't forbidden to date other guys, 
she knew that.  But it still felt strange if she went out with her 
best friend's friend.  It sounded like something they would have on 
Jerry Springer or another late night talk show.
    "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you."  Leo felt uncomfortable 
with the silence over the phone.  Maybe he shouldn't have gone 
through with the plan.  Maybe that night, Ken had been talking 
nonsense because he drank a little too much root beer.  But how 
could one ever get drunk on root beer?
    Finally, Lita spoke, "No, don't be sorry.  Sure, I'll go out 
with you to lunch.  It's not like we're not allowed to date other 
people.  I'm sure Ken's dating other girls right now."
    "I wouldn't exactly call this a date,"  He felt like the lowest 
scum from the sewers for going out with his best friend's 
girlfriend.  No, she's not his girlfriend anymore, he reminded 
himself.  Ken had specifically said that he put the relationship on 
a break while he was away and he said that Lita could date anyone 
she wanted.  Leo was honored Ken thought so highly of him to let him 
date her.  
    "It's just two people having lunch together.  Right."  Lita 
said, trying to make it sound like a friendly get-together.
    When she hung up the phone, Lita felt a little better.  At least 
she had something to do other than sit there, waiting for either 
Ken to call or one of the scouts.  In the bedroom, Lita tried to 
decide on what to wear.  Her first choice was the light pink sweater 
and a pair of shorts, but she remembered, that was one of Ken's 
favorite.  Then, she pulled out a blue tank top and white tennis 
shorts. Just about to try it on, she reminded herself that was the 
outfit she wore once while Ken was painting her.  After the ninth 
try, Lita found something to wear that didn't remind her too much of 
Ken.  She slipped on the striped pink tank top white short-alls.
    Making sure she took the communicator with her, she locked the 
apartment door and went on her way.  She knew which restaurant Leo 
had told her to meet him at.  It was one of the new ones that opened 
downtown.  There was plenty of time to get there so Lita decided to 
walk there instead of waiting for a bus.
    
    An hour early, Leo was already waiting there for Lita.  He had 
chosen a booth next to the window so that he could spot her if she 
came down the street.  He liked sitting close to the windows on 
dates because if there was nothing to talk about, then he could 
always look out the window and remark on something out there.  The 
cola he ordered was getting flat sitting there.  Every once in a 
while, he would sip it, then put it down again.
    Inside, he kept trying to convince himself that what he was 
doing wasn't wrong.  Afterall, Ken was the one who brought it up and 
asked him to take her out.  Why should he feel these qualms of guilt 
every once in a while if what he was doing was exactly what Ken 
wanted him to do.  Lita was such a beautiful girl, Leo wondered what 
was Ken thinking when he asked him to take her out while he was 
gone. Leo knew all this was bound to lead to trouble, but as soon as 
he saw Lita walking down the street, all his worries flew away and 
he knew that whatever the trouble was, she was worth it.
    She was coming down the street, facing him.  Absorbed in her own 
thoughts, Lita didn't notice him sitting by the window and walked 
into the restaurant. It wasn't much of a restaurant than a cafe.  
The second she stepped into it, the pleasantly bitter aroma of 
coffee swirled around her.  All the exotic and domestic coffee's 
lingered around her.  In the background, she could hear clinks of 
spoon on saucers, people sipping, stirring, and the usual chit-chat.
    When finally, her eyes found the person she was looking for, she 
relaxed.  Leo sat there leaned against the booth, looking at a 
newspaper.  What she didn't know was that he was seeing right 
through the paper and was pondering whether to call her over, or 
would that seem too eager?  Lita was relieved she found him because 
she didn't like being stood up.  Quickly, she walked to the booth he 
was in and sat in the seat across from him. The new leather seats 
smelled fresh, and felt springy.
    "Hi, I thought you weren't going to come."  Leo said, handing 
her a menu. 
    "Really?  I usually would call if I decide not to come, although 
I don't see any reason.  Not to come, that is."  Lita added.  It 
always amazed her how laid back a guy would look, but on the inside, 
he would be just as insecure as a child.
    "What would you like?"  Leo asked.  Then, he apologized, 
indicating his cup of cola, "Sorry. I got here early and was kind of 
thirsty."
    "No problem.  I'll have a cafe latte and some pound cake."  Lita 
told the waitress who stopped at the booth.
    "I'll have the same,"  Leo said when the waitress looked at him.
    As soon as the waitress left, the silence shifted in.  Leo 
looked out the window, trying to look for something to talk about, 
but whatever he found, he didn't think it was worthy of talking 
about anymore.  Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Lita twist 
a napkin this way and that with her hands.  Her emerald green eyes 
would sometimes sparkle from the reflection of passing cars.
    He didn't know that he had slowly turned and was now staring at 
her until Lita looked up and blushed. She asked him, "Why do you 
keep looking at me?  Is there something on my face?"
    Leo shook his head quickly, "No.  Your eyes are just so pretty. 
I've never seen eyes like yours before."
    Feeling self conscious under all this attention, Lita shifted 
her gaze away and said, "Thanks."  She had seen even better eyes.  
Ken's eyes were the most magnificent things she had ever sighted.  
They were dark, dark blue, like the blue that would only be seen 
when the moon wasn't out.  They had gold specks in them that looked 
like sparks from a fire.  Not meaning to, Lita sighed.
	"What?"  Leo asked, noticing her exhale of breath.
	"Hmm?"  She snapped back to reality and looked at him.  He 
had pretty eyes too.  They were a clear aqua color, not intense like 
Ken's, but a simple and transparent color.  Like crystal, they were 
so bright.  But Lita saw that as he turned his head, Leo's eyes were 
like a kaleidoscope and would dazzle, from blue to green.
    Their eyes locked for a split second.  Yet, when their gazes 
met, it seemed like a spark that lit up a dark room.  Leo felt 
somewhat enlightened when his eyes locked on Lita's.  Like putting 
the last piece into a puzzle, like thinking out the last part of a 
formula, like plugging the VCR into the right socket, he felt 
lighter.
    Finally, someone came to bring them their orders.  Carefully, 
Lita stirred her coffee with the small straw.  Sipping it slowly, 
Lita looked into the cup, wondering if she could read what was in 
the cup like the fortune tellers and their tea leaves.


    After a while, the hours on the plane didn't seem as long.  Ken 
dozed off once in a while, and the rest of time stared out the 
window.  Already, he had switched flights and fortunately found his 
way to the right plane the second time.  It was strange that he was 
taking the long way to Switzerland.  Instead of going east, the 
plane was headed west.  He remembered while he skimmed through the 
brochure that he would be taking the long flight because on the way, 
others from the same program would be boarding and that way, they 
would all arrive at the meeting place at the same time.
    "One day, Lita's going to enjoy flying."  Ken said, promising it 
to himself.
    "Hi, is this seat taken?"  A girl, about his age asked him.
    Ken looked up at her.  She had soft hazel green eyes and waves 
of brown hair pulled back by a pink ribbon.  Her ribbon matched the 
pink sweatshirt she had on over pink overalls.  It would have been 
an understatement if he said she liked pink.
    "No,"  Ken said and moved closer to the window to give her the 
free seat.  
    "Thanks.  They put me in a seat close to this old man, which was 
fine, but the old man kept snoring and coughing and it was really 
annoying."  
    "Yeah."
    "By the way, my name's Cindy."  she extended a hand to him, a 
hand with fingernails painted pink.
    "Nice to meet you. I'm Ken."  he replied and shook her hand.    
    "Say, are you going to the study program too?"  she asked. Maybe 
it was just a hunch, but she usually went for the hunches.
    "Yes.  I guess you are too?"
    "You bet I am.  I worked long and hard and I'm not giving this 
chance up easily."  She said enthusiastically.  "What do you work 
in?  Clay, paint, sketch, charcoal, oil?"
    "I do water painting,"  Ken replied.
    "Really?  Cool, so do I. Do you have any of your work with you?  
I'd like to see them.  I want to compare to see if mine is worth 
anything."  Cindy explained.
    Ken nodded and took out his carry-on bag.  Inside was a small 
folder of a few sketches on regular notebook paper that he drew 
while on the plane.  It would be nearly impossible to fit his 
portfolio into the carry-on bag, which was why it was in his 
suitcase instead.
    "Wow,"  Cindy flipped through the pages with an arched eyebrow, 
"These are great.  She's so beautiful.  You have a model to work 
with?"
    He saw Cindy was looking at a few pictures of Lita that he 
drew.  Although he had drawn them from memory, he was sure he got 
every detail right, from the turn of the lips to the arch of her 
eyebrows.  He shook his head, "No, she's not a model. Although she 
wouldn't have trouble finding work as one."  He added that last 
statement under his breath.
    "Fantasy girl?"  Cindy asked with a teasing smile, pointing to 
another sketch of Lita on her side on an oversized plush bed 
surrounded by pillows.
    Blushing, Ken shook his head and whispered, "She's real."
    "Oh, girlfriend?"  Cindy tried again.
    "Kind of,"  Ken replied.  He wasn't sure what they were right 
then.  I wonder what Lita's doing right now, Ken thought to 
himself. Sitting in his airline seat, if he thought hard enough, he 
could pretend he was sitting on Lita's sofa.  She had her back to 
him and standing in the kitchen.  Her lacey pink apron was tied 
around her back as she rattled off happily about a new recipe she 
made.
    How simple their normal lives were.  There were those times when 
Ken wished that they could be normal teenagers and not super-heroes 
who's duty was to make sure the Negaverse stayed in tact.  He would 
wish that another group of people had been chosen to be the scouts.  
But Ken knew that he was grateful with everything he had.  If it 
weren't for Lita being Sailor Jupiter and him being Jupiter Knight, 
then he probably wouldn't have gotten up the courage to admit to 
Lita how much he loved her and how much he wanted her to love him.
    "Gee, you're getting a little spacey.  Are you air sick or 
somethin'?"  Cindy asked.  One minute, they were talking about his 
drawings, the next minute, he was staring off in space with an 
almost moronic smile.
    Snapping back to reality, Ken nodded.  "I'm fine. Just a little 
claustrophobic maybe."
    "How long have up been on the plane?"  
    "I don't remember.  Let's see...I left Tokyo at about five in 
the morning on Friday,"  Ken said, trying to calculate how long he 
had been in the air, counting that time he had to switch planes.
    "Pretty long then," Cindy said. She didn't care for numbers.
    "Felt like a decade,"  Ken sighed.  He reminded himself to call 
Lita as soon as he got settled in no matter what time it was.  It 
would mean a lot to Lita to know that he set foot on land safely, 
considering her paranoid fear of planes.

    The microwave oven's timer rang and Lita rushed up to tend to 
it.  The whole kitchen smelled like a candy shop, a marshmallow 
scent was in the air, accompanied by caramelized sugar.  Carefully 
with oven mitts on, Lita lifted the tray off the oven rack and set 
it on the counter.  While it was still hot, she cut the treat into 
bite sized pieces and put them onto a large plate.
    "It smells so yummy!"  Serena squealed from the living room.
    Rei's exasperated response came next, "You say everything smells 
yummy, meat ball head!"
    "Hey, don't call me that!  My hair's not even in meatballs right 
now."  Serena turned her nose up and stuck her tongue out at her.
    "Fresh and hot from the oven, come and get it!"  Lita shouted as 
she brought the plate in and set it on the middle of the floor.  The 
coffee table that had once been there was pushed into the dining 
room to make the living room more spacey for the slumber party.
    "Wow, what are these?"  Mina asked, picking up the first block 
and chewing it slowly.  A dreamy look came to her face, "They're 
delicious!  Oh gee, like puffy clouds."
    Ami was scrutinizing the small blocks of food carefully with her 
glasses on and stated, "They seem to be a mixture of Rice Krispee's, 
rainbow colored marshmallow's, M&M's, caramelized sugar, and a bit of 
butter."
    "Aw, Ami.  You figured out my secret recipe!"  Lita whined in 
mock disappointment.
    "This is so fun!  We haven't had a slumber party in ages.  And 
it's just us girls!"  Serena gushed between treats.  Already, while 
the others were still on their first bite, she had eaten three.
    "Where's Luna and Artemis?"  Lita asked, looking around over all 
the sleeping bags, pillows and stuffed animals for two familiar 
looking feline forms.  "I invited them too."
    "Oh, they're no fun.  Luna said she didn't want to listen to us 
gossip anyway.  She's probably at my house right now."  Serena 
answered with a wave of her hand.
    Mina nodded, "Yeah, Artemis too.  Besides even though he's a 
cat, he's still a guy."
    "I keep forgetting about that,"  Lita said and slapped herself 
on her forehead.
    "That's okay, I forget it sometimes too.  Once, I almost opened 
the door in the bathroom while I was taking a bath because he was 
talking to me from the other side and I couldn't hear him."  Mina 
commented and giggled.
    "Hey, let's play truth or dare."  Rei suggested.
    "Okay, I get to go first!"  Serena shouted.
    "No, you always go first."  Rei disagreed.
    "No I don't!"
    "Yes I do!"
    "Wait!"  Ami interrupted, "Since this is Lita's house, why don't 
we let Lita go first?"  
    "Good idea.  Go ahead Lita."  Mina said and all attention was on 
Lita.
    "Okay...."  Lita looked at her circle of friends, trying to 
decide on her victim.  "Rei, truth or dare?"
    "Truth,"  Rei replied promptly.
    "Tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, do you swear?"  
Lita asked suddenly, holding out the first issue of the Sailor V 
manga to her.
    The whole room erupted in laughter.  They were all rolling on 
the floor and laughing, but Rei managed to put her hand on the book 
and nod.
    "How much do you like Chad?"  Lita fired.
    As if someone poured ketchup on her, Rei's face flushed red.  She 
stuttered, "I-I-I don't like Chad!"
    "C'mon Rei. You swore on the manga.  Tell the truth."  Serena 
insisted.
    "I change my mind.  Dare."  Rei switched.
    "No, you can't switch, can she?"  Mina asked.  She was just as 
curious on the subject as the others were.
    "She can, but she has to do what I dare her to do no matter 
what, even if it's jumping off the roof."  Lita replied.
    "You'd better not make me do that,"  Rei warned.  The color of 
her cheeks were almost returning to its usual non-blushing color.
    "I dare you to..."  Lita struggled to think up a good one, "I 
dare you to do your hair in meat balls like Serena does."
    "What?!" Rei exclaimed, steam practically coming out of her 
ears, "What a degrading, demeaning, embarrassing-"
    "Either that, or tell us how much you love Chad,"  Serena 
taunted.
    "I don't!"  Rei refused.
    "C'mon Rei, it's just a game.  Play fair,"  Mina joined in, 
holding up two rubberbands for Rei to tie her hair in.
    "Aw, alright.  Serena, help me with my hair.  How do you do 
it?"  Rei asked, sitting so that her back was facing Serena.
    The rest of the girls giggled as Serena wound two perfectly 
round meatballs with Rei's hair and fastened them safely with the 
rubberbands and some extra bobbypins.
    "A regular meatball head,"  Lita laughed.
    "Ha ha,"  Rei said sardonically.
    "Okay, Rei. It's your turn." Mina reminded.
    "Sure.  Ami, truth or dare?"  
    As usual, Ami contemplated the two choices before choosing truth.
    "What was the lowest grade you got in your whole life and when 
was it?"  Rei asked.
    Although it wasn't as embarrassing a question to the others, 
Ami's face blushed as she recalled clearly when it was.  "The lowest 
grade I got was..."
    Everyone moved a couple inches closer to Ami to hear it.
    "When I forgot to study one night, and it just happened to be 
before an exam.  I was so ashamed of myself.  I got a 90 percent.  
Oh my gosh!  That was an A-!"  Ami said, shaking her head in despair.
    Almost everyone felt face flat on the floor.  They had expected 
something in maybe the C category, but no, Ami didn't get anything 
lower than an A?
    "Ami!  That would be considered good if it was me who got it!"  
Serena exclaimed.
    "But it was me.  I usually get everything all right!"  Ami said, 
still obviously furious at her "low" scoring.
    "Next,"  Rei said.
    Ami looked around the room, then finally her eyes landed on 
Serena.  She smiled and asked, "Serena, truth or dare?"
    "Truth."
    "You guys are no fun," Mina complained.
    The question Ami asked surprised everyone that it came out of 
her mouth.  "Serena, how far have you gone with Darien?"
    "Huh?!"  Serena demanded, "What do you mean?"
    "C'mon, inquiring minds want to know."  Ami insisted.
    "Yeah, we're all a little curious."  Lita shot in.
    "Hey, just how far have you gone with Ken?"  Serena shot back.
    Lita blushed, then defended, "I'm not the one being asked."
    Rei was just as red as Lita, although for different reasons.  
"Yeah, Serena.  Do you still have your maidenly virtues?"
    "Of course!  Darien promised my dad he wouldn't lay a hand on me 
until I'm old enough."  Serena finally answered.
    For some reason, Rei looked relieved.  Then, she said, "Serena, 
go.  It's your turn."
    With an evil grin, Serena looked at Lita.  "So, Lita, how far 
have you gone with Ken?"
    "Hey, wait!  You didn't ask her truth or dare!"  Mina reminded. 
    Lita shot Mina a thankful look and said, "I choose dare."
    Suddenly, the phone rang, interupting their game.  Lita went up 
to pick up the cordless and sat back down to answer it.  "Hello?  
Who is it?"
    "Hi, Li."  A voice she most certainly recognized answered.
    "Ken,"  Lita breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm glad you made it 
alive."
    Ken chuckled on the other end, "C'mon, Lita.  It's more 
plausible to die of an alligator attack than of plane crashes."
    "No use trying to persuade me,"  Lita replied.
    Abruptly, Serena interrupted, "I dare you to tell Ken just how 
much you love him.  And don't just say, 'I love you', either."
	Lita put her hand over the receiver and said quietly, "I 
can't do that."
    "Why not?"  Serena asked disappointedly.
    "I'll explain later,"  Lita replied before speaking to Ken.
    "The weather here is great.  You should really come here, the 
scenery is absolutely indescribable."  Ken said in an awed voice.
    Lita laughed, "There's no way in hell you're going to get me to 
fly over there.  Paint me a picture, though."
    "So what are you doing at home?  Shouldn't you be out with all 
your dates?"  Ken switched the subject.
    "No, I'm not out obviously.  Actually, the girls and I are just 
sitting around because of the slumber party."  Lita explained.
    "Real quality time,"  Ken said with an unexplainable tone.
    "Oh, and I went out with Leo for lunch.  Just as friends, 
though.  Nothing like a real date.  He's nice,"  Lita added.  
Somehow, she needed to justify that she hadn't gone on a "date" with 
Leo to herself more than to Ken.
    "Glad my two best friends are getting along," and he sounded 
genuinely glad.
    "I'm sure this is costing you a ton, so I'll just say bye  right 
now." 
    "Yeah, bye. I'm sure you have no time to talk to me now that all 
the guys found out you're single again."
    "Yes, there's so many, they have to take a number and wait in 
line."  Lita played along with the joke and hung up after another 
round of 'byes.
    "Aww, you guys are so sweet to each other."  Mina cooed.
    "So, what's the reason?"  For once, Serena managed to remember 
something other than what she wanted to eat.
    "Reason for what?"
    "Why can't you tell Ken you love him?  Don't you?"   All eyes 
were on Lita.
    "Of course I do,"  Lita insisted, a sigh of relief from everyone 
followed, "It's just that we decided to just be friends right now 
since he's gone."
    "So you wouldn't mind if he dated another girl?"  Rei asked 
skeptically.
    "No."
    "Are you sure?"  Rei asked, peering at her intensely.
    "Okay, okay,"  Lita admitted, "I'd mind, but I wouldn't get too 
angry.  We *did* agree on it."
    "And he wouldn't mind if you went out with guys?"  Rei fired 
another question at her.    
    Lita backed up against the sofa, "What is this?  Court TV?  I 
don't think he'd mind."
    Mina switched to another subject in the same field, "So tell me 
about Leo."
    "Yes, from what I heard of this side of the conversation with 
you and Ken, I assume he knows who Leo is."  Ami provided.
    "Oh, Leo's a friend of Ken's.  A good friend."  Lita explained.
    Serena shook her head and said in an imitation Oprah Winfry 
voice, "On the next Oprah, friends who date their boyfriend's best 
friend."
    Lita blushed, "It wasn't a date.  We simply went out for lunch 
together.  That's not what I call a date."
    "That sounds like a date to me,"  Rei replied.
    "Wait, only one thing can determine it.  Did you guys kiss 
afterward?"  Mina interviewed Lita with a licorice stick.
    "No, we didn't.  See, then it's not a date."  Lita insisted.
    "Well, not necessarily.  Not everyone kisses on first dates."  
Ami broke in.
    "Then how do we know?" Serena asked.
    "Why didn't you ask us to come along if it was a friend thing?"  
Mina questioned.
    "Popcorn anyone?"  Lita changed the subject.
    Or at least tried to.  "Don't change the subject. This is 
interesting."
    "I didn't think he'd feel comfortable if I invited you guys 
because he doesn't know you."  she explained, hoping that was the 
last she had to say.
    "In other words, the two of you wanted to be alone?"  Rei kept 
stressing the last word.
    "It was a friendly lunch together, okay?  End of discussion,"  
Lita stated with finality.
    Everyone sensed it and switched into different subjects.


    Leo stroked his cat's belly, content on hearing the soothing 
purr.  He knew it was a little odd to feel this close to a cat, but 
he couldn't help it.  Whenever he talked to his cat, he felt 
better.  His friends had teased him about it, but lately, Ken seemed 
to have laid off the teasing.
    "You know what, Dexter."  Leo started, talking to his cat as if 
it was a real life person.  "I think I've found the perfect woman.  
Okay, she's a little younger than me, but age doesn't matter."
    Dexter mewed in agreement.
    "I'm kind of ashamed of what attracted me to her in the first 
place.  She's gorgeous.  Tall and gorgeous.  But now that I know her 
better, I don't think it would matter how she looks like.  I don't 
know, but whenever I'm with her, she's not  like other girls.  You 
know what I mean?"
    Dexter nodded.  He was sure of it.
    "Yeah, I remember you and that calico cat a while back.  But, 
back to Lita.  I just think she's so pretty.  Whenever I'm with her, 
I feel like I can be honest.  I don't have to do anything to impress 
her.  She's not like Susan.  Ugh, remember Susan?"
    Dexter mewed again. He didn't like Susan. Susan was always 
putting on airs.  The only thing nice about her was the way she 
looked.  Everything else was rotten.
    "Lita's not like Susan.  I can talk about sports, and she'll be 
interested.  I can play video games with her, and I don't have to be 
easy on her.  No wonder Ken was so obsessed with her.  I never 
understood it until I felt her touch.  Now I know why he loves her so
much."  
    Dexter started to purr.
    "Wow, five dates in a row with the same girl already.  Do you 
think it's getting serious?"
    Suddenly, Dexter jumped up with a final nod to Leo before 
leaping off the desk.
    

    "So what are you going to order?"  Lita asked.  She looked at 
him over the top of the menu. Something about the way she looked at 
him made him feel warm inside.
    "The usual,"  he replied.  He didn't know why she was still 
looking at the menu.  It had been their sixth  lunch here and every 
time, she ordered the same thing. He memorized it the first time: 
Combo burger, deep fried fries, and a chocolate shake.
    When the food came, they dug in.  Lita was about the only girl 
he had had lunch with that didn't pick at her food. The other girls 
kept picking at their food, trying not to look like a pig, but 
ending up looking like an anorexic.
    "I was thinking, after lunch maybe we could go to a movie."  Leo 
asked after carefully swallowing his last bite of burger.
    A startled look came to her face.  He was afraid he had offended 
her.
    Lita took a fry and chewed on it slowly, then answered, "I guess 
that'd be okay.  What's playing?"
    Leo named all of the movies playing and their show times.  In 
the morning, he had planned out which movies were worth watching and 
wouldn't insult her intelligence.
    "You pick, there are so many good ones."  Lita insisted.
    "We'll just go to the closest showing they have when we get 
there." He replied. That's what he usually did.  
    Not many girls stood for that, but Lita shrugged, "Sure.  Sounds 
good to me."
    By the time they reached the theatre, there was a long and weary 
line of people waiting to go to the ticket booth.  People of all 
ages were waiting in line.
    "What's all the fuss about?"  Lita wondered outloud.
    "Oh, that new action flick is out.  Do you want to go watch 
that?"  Leo answered, trying to find the end of the line.
    "That's okay.  There's no chance that we can even get into that 
theatre.  Let's go buy a ticket for another movie."  she suggested.
    "Only one more choice that's showing in five minutes,"  Leo 
said, reading off the signs.
    "Grease?"  Lita read.  She thought, then agreed, "Sure, I'd like 
to see that again."

    After the movie, Leo offered to walk Lita home. During the long 
walk, they talked about the movie.
    "I love musicals,"  Lita said, "This has got to be one of the 
best."
    "I'm not much of a musical fan,"  Leo admitted, "But this one is 
okay.  A little too much singing for me though. Every five minutes, 
they would break into a song.  Now tell me, who in the world really 
does that?  I never see real life people on the streets do any 
spontaneously choreographed dance sequences."  
    Lita laughed, which sounded like tinkering bells.  "That's true, 
but it's a musical. It's what you would expect. Besides, it's a 
classic."
    They were in front of Lita's apartment complex by then.  Not a 
single person could be seen on the streets, which was usual for this 
neighborhood. 
    "So here it is,"  Lita stated, for lack of anything else to 
say.  She didn't want to invite him in, because if she did, she felt 
she would be betraying some part of her mind, or someone.
    "Yeah,"  Leo started to shuffle his feet.  His sandy blonde hair 
fell over his eyes, hiding his nervous blue eyes.  "I had a great 
time."
    "Me too,"  Lita admitted.  
    Suddenly, Leo took Lita's hand, holding them gingerly in his.  
Slowly, he moved his hands up her arms, up to her shoulders, then 
rested them there.
    A shiver went through Lita's spine.  Not an unpleasant one, but 
she didn't know what to classify it as.  Slowly, slowly, as if in 
slow motion, Leo leaned closer.  Their faces were inches away from 
each other.  The light blue specks in his eyes could be seen now 
that they were so close.  Both of them knew it was going to happen.  
Lita braced herself, unsure of what else to do.
    Softly, Leo planted his lips on hers.  First, he rested them 
there, unsure if she would pull away. When he saw she didn't, he 
planted several small kisses around her lips, drinking in her 
essence. They lingered there for a while before Lita finally 
stepped back, almost tripping over the first step.  A frightened
look came into her eyes, and they became as wide as the open door.
    "Lita, say something.  Why are you looking like that?"  a 
concerned Leo asked.  He stepped forward to her, but she held a hand 
firmly up.
    "No,"  she stated.
    "What?"
    "Why did you do that?"  she demanded.   
    "Why didn't I?"
    "You shouldn't have done that,"  Lita shook her head.   
    "Why not?  It's not like you have any kissing disease and even 
if you did, I'd still kiss you."  
    "But,"  Lita stuttered, "Before, we could have gone out as 
friends, but now....now we can't."
    "Is that bad?"
    "I-I-,"  Lita fished for a reason.  She couldn't find one 
anywhere.  A part of her didn't want to get involved, but another 
part wanted to.
    "You and Ken aren't together anymore, are you?"  Leo doubted 
that.
    You and Ken.  Those three words sounded so comfortable, so 
secure, something she could lean on for support.  Lita and Ken.  
Yet, now it was Lita and it was Ken.  Two different people.  Maybe 
they had become too attached to each other, too reliant, too 
involved.  Is this what it means to take a break from a 
relationship?  She never believed that until now.  They were still 
young.  She needed to explore other relationships with other people.
    "Lita, you're not answering me,"  Leo was now worried.  Had he 
done something wrong? Moved too fast?  Pushed her too much?  Was he 
just a little annoyance she puts up with?  
    Shaking her head to clear it, Lita answered, "I'm alright.  I'm 
sorry.  I over reacted a little.  I'm always like this."
    Relieved and bewildered about her behavior was the only thing 
that could describe what Leo was feeling.  
    "I'll see you,"  he finally said and turned to leave. Nothing 
more could be said so he left.
    Alone in her apartment, Lita sat down to think.  Yes, they had 
agreed on dating other people.  Ken agreed, Lita agreed, so what was 
wrong?  There was nothing she was doing wrong, so why was everything 
suddenly saying, "Cheater, cheater cheater!" at her?  The face of 
her clock turned into an accusation of her being a cheater.  The 
phone yelled at her for not being loyal to Ken.  The coffee table 
was kicking her for having feelings for another.
    "Stop it!"  Lita shouted, holding her head in her hands.  "Just 
shut up and stop!"
    Everything quieted down.  The inanimate objects of her room 
remained so.  Just calm down, she told herself.  I'm not cheating on 
Ken. I just went on a few dates. Practically harmless. He just 
kissed me once, no big deal.  I'm sure Ken's having fun with lots of 
girls over there.  Everything is fine.
    Every word she tried to comfort herself with didn't have much of 
an effect.  She felt like a rope, pulled taut because of the tug a 
war.  
    No further thought on that subject could be made because her 
communicator beeped.  She took it out and clicked it on.  
Frantically, Luna described the situation, gave her the address and 
signed off.
    Fighting youma was almost a luxury now.  Lita felt she could 
take out all her angle and stress on them.  She didn't have to think 
too hard about if what she was doing was right or wrong when 
fighting youma.  All she had to do was give it all she had.  It 
wasn't something worth debating over.  Lita ran as fast as she could 
toward the scene of destruction.  In movies, people could run 
forever, but soon, Lita felt the pull of Earth's gravity on her and 
began to get tired.  Fortunately, she was almost there.
    "Hold it right there!" Lita, transformed into Jupiter behind 
some trees in well camouflage shouted.
    "Sailor Jupiter, you're here!"  Sailor Venus hoorayed.
    "That's right!  And we will make you pay for all the destruction 
that you've done to this beautiful park."  Tuxedo Mask said from 
on top of a tree branch. Sailor Moon, below him started her trademark 
stance, but was interrupted by a flying projectile that implanted 
itself into one of her meat balls.
    "What the-"  Soon, Sailor Moon was covered in toilet paper, 
mummified.
    "Watch out for those.  They wrap themselves around you and 
never let go,"  Sailor Mars instructed.  She had some on the heel of 
her shoes, and was attempting to keep the toilet paper at bay.
    "I'll handle it,"  Sailor Jupiter shouted.  She was plenty 
steamed and stressed.  Just the perfect mood she liked to be when 
she fought.  Attack after attack, she mutilated and abused the large 
youma as best she could.   And when it was all over, when the youma 
was nothing but dust, she felt better.  
    "Poor, Jupiter.  What's wrong?"  Sailor Venus asked, putting a 
gloved hand on her friend's shoulder.  She knew whenever Jupiter got 
this way, something was disturbing her.
    It took a while for Jupiter to catch her breath, and in the mean 
time, she de-transformed.  Finally, she sighed and just replied, 
"I'm tired.  I need to go home."
    Where Lita said "need" when "want" would have sufficed, Mina 
noticed.  She shook her head and just replied, "Don't forget who 
your friends are Li."
    Lita nodded apologetically at Mina, "You guys are all my 
friends.  I'll never forget that."
    Mina, Serena, Darien, and two cats stood there statically, 
watching as the last of Lita got smaller and smaller as she went 
farther.  It was hard being a scout.  It was hard being a scout and 
living alone.  It was hard being a scout, living alone, and being 
Lita at the same time.
    As she jogged home, Lita broke into a sweat.  She wiped the 
moisture from her forehead on her sleeve but didn't stop running.  
Run.  Faster, run away from everything.  Run and run until you can't 
feel it anymore.  Run where no one can reach you and no one will 
care.
    Shouts of profanity were thrown as Lita ran across the street, 
almost getting herself killed jaywalking across an intersection.  
She didn't care who she bumped in to on the busy streets.  She 
didn't care who was shaking their fists at her.  Running at top 
speed now, she didn't bother to stop at her apartment.  Rather, she 
ran right pass it.
    Farther and farther she went.  It was true, people could run 
forever.  She didn't feel the complaining her legs were doing, she 
didn't feel her lungs burning.  No, she ran away.  She ran until 
there was nothing left running for.
    Coward.  She knew she was being a coward.  In the middle of  
nowhere with nothing but five dollars in her pockets.  She was alone 
and one of the few times she could actually shout at the top of her 
lungs and scream without anyone hearing.
    Let it all hang out, she thought.  At super decibels, she opened 
her mouth and let it all out, cursing, screaming out nonsense, and 
when she finished, she didn't feel any better.  With a sore throat, 
she sank down onto the padded grass.  Her head was much clearer, as 
if the running and hard breathing had washed all the mud out.
    Simplicity is the clue, Lita told herself.  All she had to do 
was to simply separate her feelings toward Ken and her feelings 
toward Ken's friend.  Ken's friend...Ken's friend...Ken's friend, it 
kept echoing in her.  There wasn't a rule that said you couldn't 
date your best friends friend, so why did it feel so crummy.
    Yet, a sinfully delicious candy was something she needed.  
Something she craved and couldn't stop.


	Huff, puff, huff puff, huff, puff, went the rhythm as the 
five girls jogged down the street.  Leading the miniature marathon 
was Lita, dressed in all green: a green sweatshirt and matching 
sweat shorts.  Next in line was Mina, fashionable as ever: a yellow 
hairband pulling her hair back, yellow windbreaker and white running 
shorts.  Rei wasn't too far behind, not in her priestess robe 
obviously, but in a white sweatshirt and green sweat pants.  The two 
last people, almost running side by side were Ami and Serena.  Ami 
in a modest light blue windbreaker and shorts, Serena wearing one of 
Darien's oversize sweatshirts and shorts peeking out underneath.
    Just as they finished their first mile, Serena started to fall 
behind and started to complain.  Although Ami wasn't complaining it 
was clear she was just as worn down.
    "I.....can't take.....any......more,"  Serena panted and stopped 
running.  As if on cue, Darien drove up to the pig-tailed blonde in 
his red car and offered her a lift.
    "I....have.....to get-home-to-finish-my-studying!" Ami finally 
blurted in one big gasp.  Any excuse would do to get out of this.  
Physical exercise wasn't her thing. She would rather excersise her 
brain.
    "Wimps!"  Rei called out as Ami and Serena stepped into Darien's
car.
    Mina hung in there for another mile or so before also quitting, 
under the guise of "tidying up the house."  Everyone knew Mina would 
rather have a tooth pulled than clean the house.
    So now, only Lita and Rei were left running.  Rei, no matter how 
hard she tried, was always a step or two behind Lita.
    "Say, Lita.  Mind slowing down a bit?  You might cross the 
speeding limit."  Rei asked.
    At first, Rei thought Lita hadn't heard her, but just as she was 
going to repeat the question, Lita answered.  "Whatever doesn't kill 
you only makes you stronger."
    Oddly enough, that single sentence made Rei more determined to 
run.  Lita had been running it through her mind while she was 
running and in turn, kept her first place.  One could never be too 
sure when they'd have to run for a long distance one of those days.
    The two ladies had run clear to the other side of town, entirely 
going around the downtown area all together.  It was nice looking at 
a change of scenery.
    "Lita, don't look now, but a really cute guy is running right 
behind us.  I think he's going to catch up."  Rei stage whispered to 
Lita. It came out in short gasps, though.
    To her surprise, Lita sprinted faster.
    "Hey!  What are you doing?"  Rei shouted, trying to catch up to 
her long legged friend.
    "I don't want any distractions.  I ate a whole chocolate fudge 
cake yesterday and I want to burn all of it off."  Lita said. It 
wasn't a total white lie.  She did eat a whole chocolate fudge cake, 
but she also sped faster because she didn't want any more confusion 
in her life.
    "Too late, this guy's pretty quick. He's gaining on us.  Don't 
worry, I'll work the Shinto charm on him."  Rei said smoothly.
    The runner caught up with the two girls.  He had on a white 
hooded sweatshirt with something sprawled out in back and white 
baggy sweatpants.  Oddly, he passed Rei, then took two extra bounds 
forward and started to jog side by side with Lita.
    "So, what brings you here, Lita?"  Abruptly, Lita stopped, like 
the coyote would stop just as the cliff would end.  Rei nearly 
bashed into the back of Lita, if it weren't for her new 
extra-traction running shoes.
    "Do you two know each other?"  Rei filled in the silence.
    The last person Lita wanted to see right then was Leo.  But life 
had a funny attitude and kept dishing him out wherever she went.  
Already, she had tried to avoid him twice, once seeing him at the 
mall, twice seeing him at the Arcade.
    Seeing that Lita wasn't going to give an answer, Leo introduced 
himself.  He held a hand up to Rei, "Leonardo CiDapryo, pleased to 
meet you."
    Rei scrutinized the hand before shaking it.  "Rei."
    "Ray?  Isn't that a guy's name?" Leo asked, good humourly.
    "No, it isn't.  Look who's talking! Leonardo?  What kind of name 
is that?  Some kind of artist, are you?"  Rei defended.
    "That's why most of my friends call me Leo."
    Finally, Lita decided to speak, "What are you doing here?"
    Leo turned his aqua eyes on her, almost drinking her in.  
"That's what I asked you.  You don't live around here, so why jog so 
far?"
    "But you're-"
    "I live here.  That's my excuse.  What's yours?"  Leo cut in.
    Rei, not liking to be left out of things jumped in, "Gee, you 
sure are rude. What?  Do we need a passport to be on this side of 
town or something?  A secret handshake?"  She rolled her eyes 
sarcastically.  Then, she grabbed Lita's sleeve and pulled her into 
a jog. "C'mon, Lita.  Lose this jerk."
    The girls started running again, leaving an astonished Leo to 
stare after them.  He just shrugged and started to follow them, 
mumbling, "Women."
    "Hey, wait.  Didn't mean to offend you."  He said after he had 
caught up. Although the girls were excellent runners, he was on the 
track team and it wasn't too hard to catch up to them.  
    "Look, mister Michelangelo."  Rei said, stopping in her tracks 
and glaring at him.
    "It's Leo."  He corrected.
    "Whatever.  If you have a problem with us being here, then-"
    Leo stopped  her in mid sentence, "Who said there was a 
problem?  I was just about to ask you two ladies if you wanted to go 
and have lunch with me."
    Rei gave Lita a "Can you believe this guy" look.  "You're a 
smooth talker, but no can do.  If you think you can just pick up 
any girl off the street and-"
    Once again, Rei was interrupted, "But I'm not picking up on you 
guys.  I know this nice little restaurant a block from here.  We can 
just go sit there and take a break.  It's not a date or anything, 
jeez, you can even pay for yourself."
    "Fine then,"  Lita blurted out.  She couldn't stop her self, it 
just came out.
    A look of pure joy burst in Leo's eyes, but he quickly hid 
that and started off to a jog.  "C'mon, follow me."
    "Lita, if he's some sicko and you're the one leading us into 
this, I swear, I'll-"  Rei was getting a tad frustrated of people 
interrupting her.
    "Don't worry, I know him.  He's a decent guy."  Lita assured.
    "I'm decent.  Don't worry, I'm not gonna kidnap you, if that's 
what you're afraid of."  Leo called back to them.  He had heard 
every single word.
    Rei turned deep red with anger, trying to struggle with a 
come-back.  Leo just chuckled and ran on.  Turning to her still beat
red friend, Lita shook her head.
	"It's not worth it, Rei."  Lita said.  After having tons of
experience over fights both physical and verbal, she knew when it was
and when it wasn't worth defending.
	The girls had jogged slower, staying about half a block
behind Leo, but close enough to tell where he was going.  Rei
whispered something to Lita, something she made sure Lita could only
hear.  Actually, Lita couldn't hear it that well either.
	"He's shully kidda Q-tip you pig manure the tattoo,"  was
what Lita heard the first time Rei whispered it to her.
	"What?  Speak up, Rei. I can't hear you."  Lita said loudly.
	Rei gave an exasperated sigh and repeated herself louder and
with more enunciation this time, "I said he's actually kind of cute
if you ignore the attitude."
	"C'mon Rei, every guy in the world has something wrong with
his attitude,"  Lita reported matter of factly.
	"Not every guy.  I agree, most of them do, but the good ones
don't."  Rei contradicted.
	"No, they all do."
	"What about Ken?"
	Lita shook her head and laughed, "If you knew Ken as well as
I do, you'd see.  Gosh, when we were small, he used to be so
obnoxious.  Exactly like one of those little boys with a sling-shot
in their back pocket and a handful of pebbles in the other, and don't
forget the frog in his shirt pocket."  It was a stereotypical little
boy description.
	"Lita, I know he's grown out of that.  To tell you the truth,
all guys start out that way.  I've baby-sat enough times to gather
that info.  Ken's grown out of it, I'm sure."   Rei could believe
that was how Ken was while he was growing up, but now, it wasn't as
plausible.
	"That's true,"  Lita agreed, "But Ken's still Ken.  He's
grown out of the sling-shot biz, but now, he's just incredibly
cocky."
	Rei rolled her eyes, "I can't believe what you're saying
about him."
	"Hey!"  Lita shouted, laughing, "I didn't say I didn't like
it.  Cocky looks cute on Ken."
	"No,"  Rei disagreed, "You haven't seen cocky until you've
lived a year with Chad in the temple.  No one can get cockier than
him."
	"Let's just face it, guys have egos that are too big.  Their
pride is inproportional to the rest of their body, as Ami would put
it."  Lita finally stated.
	Leo, who was slowing down so the gabbing ladies could catch
up didn't hear any of the previous conversation.  He stopped
altogether and waited.  After an eternity, they had finally arrived
to where he was standing.
	"So where's the place?"  Rei looked around.  They had stopped
at a busy road.
	"Right across the street,"  Leo replied, indicating a quaint
little dinner that looked more like a bookstore.
	"Great, I'm starved."  Lita said just as her stomach growled. 
She hadn't ate much for breakfast, only a bagel and a cup of juice.  
What she was really craving for was a nice big bowl of chicken noodle
soup.  
	When the light turned green, they eagerly walked towards the
restaurant, not at all noticing they were all in sweaty clothes and
didn't look as neat.  After all, it was only a cozy make-yourself-
at-home restaurant.  It wasn't a black tie affair.
	Rei, Lita and Leo got into a small booth, with Lita and Rei
sitting on one side, Leo alone on the other.  Small menus designed to
look like books were already placed on the table.
	"What do you recommend?"  Rei asked, scanning the menu briefly.
Everything sounded delicious.  By some of the foods, there would even
be pictures.
	"This place is famous for the chicken porridge.  That's what
I always have when I come here.  There's no where else that can make
porridge like this place."  
	Lita and Rei stood their menus up, forming a small wall to
hide behind while they conversed. 
	"How much money did you bring?"  Rei mouthed to Lita.
	"I didn't expect we were going to buy anything.  All I have is
five dollars in bills and a quarter."  
	"So now what?  We can't both order something and afford it."
Rei worried.
	"That's okay, it's on me."  Leo cut in.  They didn't know they
were whispering so loud.  Immediately, both girls blushed furiously.
	"No, we couldn't ask you to.  Why don't we just schedule this
for another day?"  Lita asked.  She didn't feel right having him pay
for their meal.
	"How about this. I treat you guys out today and you owe me one
next time?"  Leo debated, cocking his side agreeably.
	Rei and Lita gave each other a look, then nodded.  "Sure, sounds
harmless."
	"Great,"  Leo smiled and clasped his hands together.
	If that was some kind of signal, the waitress came over with a 
small pad and pencil.  She chewed her gum annoyingly, making it look
like it was doubling in size each time she took a chew.
	"Well?  What cha getting?"  she asked after snapping her gum.
	"Three House Bowls,"  Leo said, then added, "And don't skimp."
	When the waitress left without an extra word, Rei was still
frowning.  "Gee, what happened to hospitality?"
	"The service is horrible, but the food makes up for it."  said
he and shrugged.
	Throughout the lunch, they made small talk, commenting on the
weather, the passing cars, and favorites.  As they talked, many
customers came and went, no one paying any head to anyone else.  When
Rei finished her porridge and glanced at the clock shaped like a
house on the wall.
	"Sorry to cut this short, but I promised Chad that I'd go see
his concert this afternoon and if I don't leave right now, I'll be
very late."  Rei announced.  She turned to Leo and said thankfully,
"I owe you one.  It was a pleasure meeting you."
	"Do you have any money for bus fair?"  Lita asked after
recovering from her shock.  She had never heard Rei act so polite to
an almost stranger before.
	"I have enough change, don't worry.  I'll leave you two
alone."  Rei exited with one last look casted to Lita.
	The two of them, alone in the booth, made both of the
uncomfortable.  Lita was already done with her porridge, as was Leo. 
Nothing else could be conversed between them that wasn't already
said.  If any of them said anymore, it would cross the boundary of
small talk.
	"Well, I have enough for dessert.  I'll pick up that tab." 
Lita finally said, breaking the silence.  "What do you want?"
	"No, I think I'm too full-"
	"Nonsense, what do you want?"  Lita insisted.
	"I really don't think-"
	"Don't worry, I'll order for you."  Lita didn't listen to any
word he said and called for the waitress.  When the waitress came up
with her slouched form and small notepad, Lita ordered two slices of
coffee cake topped with vanilla frosting.
	The dessert came quicker than the porridge.  Instead of
facing up to the silence, Lita dug into the cake.  She savored the
taste of coffee running over her tongue.
	Leo chuckled as he bit into his own cake.
	"What's so funny?"  
	"You should see the look on your face.  It's ecstatic."  He
answered.
	"Is not,"  Lita defended.  She made a wide sweeping motion
with her arm and knocked her water over onto the seat next to her.
	"Uh oh,"  Leo said and suddenly grabbed for the spilled cup. 
It was too late, the damage had already been done.
	Mopping up the mess with a few soggy napkins, Lita got out of
her booth, seeing that the wet spot was spreading.  She tried to
clean up the seat as best she could, but it was already too wet to
sit on.
	"You can sit here,"  Leo said and slid over to give her room. 
He moved her dish next to his and patted the spot.
	"Thanks,"  Lita said and sat down to continue to eat.  It
wasn't until she was halfway done with her cake when she noticed that
Leo wasn't even touching his slice anymore.
	"What's wrong?  You don't like it?"  Lita asked.  Maybe she
shouldn't have ordered for him.
	Drowning in those large emerald green eyes of hers, he
couldn't help but feel woozy.  His head felt like it was filled with
air and his lungs full of water.  He had never felt this way before.
	"Did anyone tell you how beautiful you are?"  He finally
choked out.
	Lita's cheeks blushed a bright red.  She didn't know what to
say.  Out of habit, she started to chew her lower lip again.  "Um,
thanks."
	Slowly, Leo moved closer to her, his breath hitting her ear,
making her shiver involuntarily.  It wasn't an unpleasant shiver.  It
actually made all her doubts go away.  Inch by inch, he moved closer,
and held his hand up to trace the contours of Lita's face.  He tipped
her chin up and planted a kiss on her lips. Oh, her lips were so
soft, so bitter sweet with the coffee.  As he kissed her, her long
eyelashes fluttered against his cheeks, tickling him to death.
	"I always wondered what heaven was like,"  he whispered after
they parted.  Her cheeks were now a rosy pink and her eyes had a
glassy fantasy look to them.  "...but now, I know."
	Lita cast her eyes down and closed her eyes.  The sensation
of his kiss still lingered on her lips.  She couldn't deny it.  She
liked it.  Somewhere in the back of her mind, fireworks exploded. 
The same fireworks that would go off whenever she kissed Ken.  Ken. 
Ken.  Ken.  Ken.  No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get that
word to stop echoing in her vacant mind.
	"C'mon,"  Leo was now tugging her arm.  He had paid the bill,
including for dessert while she was still reminiscing.  
	Lita opened her eyes and looked at him.  His eyes.  It was
happening again.  It happened with Ken, and now it was happening with
him.  That kiss, the kiss they shared had been a junction of his soul
to hers.  Now, when she looked into his eyes, they were no longer two
aqua colored eyes looking at her.  They were now windows into his
heart.  She could see every emotion he was feeling, transmitted into
her.
	Barely aware of it, Lita walked out of the restaurant with
him in front of him.  She simply followed the walking form to her
side down the street.  They stopped at the cross walk, waiting for
the light to change.
	Everyone was so muddled in her head, Lita was barely aware
that her feet started to walk.  She wasn't aware that she was in the
middle of the street.  She wasn't aware of the speeding car coming
towards her, ready to turn the corner.  
	Everything happened in slow motion.  As soon as Lita turned
to see the car coming toward her, it was too late.  She was frozen in
terror.  A deer caught in the head lights.  Leo, not thinking of
anything else dove and pushed Lita out of the way. She had walked a
good distance before him and he was barely able to push her out
before feeling it.
	With a screech of a tire, Leo felt the bump.  Funny, he had
always wondered what it would be like to get hit by a car.  He had
thought it would hurt, but he felt nothing but a bump.  All of a
sudden, he was on the floor, with faces looking down at him.
	"Call 911!"  Lita shouted to someone before coming to him. 
She knelt down to him, holding his hand in hers.  "Why did you do
that?"
	"You were going to get messed up by the car,"  Leo said
matter of factly.
	"Does it hurt?"  The driver of the car had jumped out the
minute his car hit Leo.  He was now looking curiously at the fallen
body.
	"Of course it hurts, you idiot!"  Lita shouted at him, "Why
didn't you slow down?  Why didn't you watch where you were going?  Is
there some emergency that you had to go to?  What the hell is wrong
with you?"
	By that time, Lita was up, jabbing a finger at that man's
chest, pushing him back, back, back, her eyes burning up with green. 
She was now in a deadly calm manner.  The worse mood she could be in.
	"Tell me, what the hell did you think you were doing?!"  Lita
asked again, now cornering the man up against a wall.
	"Hey, Lady, take it easy."  The man stuttered.
	"No, don't lady me.  You'd better have your lawyer handy
because we're going to sue you for everything you're worth, which is
probably not much anyway."  Lita spat into his face before returning
to Leo.
	She held his hand as the ambulance loaded him into the car
and sat with him during the ride.
	"He's in shock!"  One of the paramedics shouted and put one
of those gas mask things over Leo's face.
	"We can't stop the bleeding!  BP's dropping low,"  another
one with some sort of machine shouted over the wailing sirens.
	Leo pulled off the gas mask and shouted to get one of the
paramedic's attention.  They all thought he was delirious and
hallucinating, so didn't pay any attention to him.  Lita looked at
him curiously.
	"Show them this,"  Leo gasped out before lapsing into
unconsciousness.  He was clutching with one hand, a chain around his
neck of some sort.  Lita took the chain out of his shirt and looked
at it.  Some sort of metal tag with a medical sign on it.
	"Hey, what's this?"  Lita asked, tapping one of the
paramedic's on the shoulder.  It wasn't easy to stay put on the ride,
since the ambulance was constantly turning this way and that.
	"Can't you see we're-"  the paramedic stopped as soon as she
saw the necklace.  "Oh, shit!"
	"What?  Phyllis, what is it?"  The other one asked, still
staring at the machine and trying to stop the bleeding.
	"We have a bleeder here,"  Phyllis said.
	Suddenly, everything went in hyper drive.  The two paramedics
in back yelled for the driver to floor the gas peddle.
	"What's wrong?"  Lita asked desperately at the two people in
white.  "Is it bad?"
	"Not necessarily,"  they replied at the same time and gave
each other a worried look.
	A great deal of blood was all over the place.  The paramedic
named Phyllis had a sanitized white towel and an ice pack over Leo's
bleeding lower thigh.  
	"Check his wallet for a donor card,"  Phyllis told the other
one.  They searched in his pockets and fished out a wallet.  From the
wallet came a white card with a red cross on it.
	"Well, what does it say?"  Phyllis asked impatiently.
	While all this was happening, Lita was still clutching Leo's
hand tightly.  Everything was happening again.  That night, when Ken
was attacked by the lion while trying to save her, he also needed to
be rushed into the hospital, with her holding his hand all the way.  
But this time, it was Leo.  
	Why does everyone I come in contact with get hurt like this?  
Lita asked herself.  The majority of the time Ken got hurt, it was
because of her.  Because of her. He was always trying to protect her
in one way or another.  Now, Leo's starting to do it. What was this
thing that made guys always want to stand between her and danger?  It
wasn't a contract they both signed, so why was this happening?
	"He's a hemo alright,"  the other one said.  Lita read his
name badge and it said his name was "John."  That was about as trite
as a name could get.  She wouldn't be surprised if John's last name
was Smith or Doe.
	"We know that already.  Who's his donor and get them on the 
phone immediately!"  Phyllis cursed.
	"Miyake, Ken."
	Suddenly, Lita's head snapped up.  Ken? Why were they looking
for Ken?  "He's out of town right now,"  she told them.
	"How far?"
	"Switzerland,"  Lita answered.
	"Shit,"  Phyllis had a very loose mouth.
	"Why?  What's wrong?"
	"Get the hospital on the phone. Tell them we need lots of
blood. O positive."  Phyllis shouted to John.  It had been already 
established to who was the one giving orders there.
	A strange feeling of deja vu overcame Lita as she said
hoarsely, "I have type O blood."

	Five minutes after they had wheeled a still bleeding Leo into
intensive care, his parents came in.  Lita tried to get up, but as soon
as she straightened her legs, the whole world spun.  Giving tons of
blood would have that affect on people.  They gave her some juice, a 
cookie, and sat her down in the waiting room.  Not having much of an
appetite, Lita gave her cookie to a toddler who had been coloring on
the table.	
	"I need to know where Leonardo CiDapryo is!"  a woman, who
was obviously Leo's mother demanded.  They both shared the same sandy
blonde hair.  A tall man, with an arm around Mrs CiDapryo tried to calm
her.  He was who Leo got his good looks from. Both had those iridescent
aqua eyes and firm jawline.
	"Sorry, ma'am. He's not allowed to have visitors yet.  He's in
intensive care."  the lady behind the desk said unemotionally and went
back to filing some papers.
	"Um, Mrs CiDapryo,"  Lita called out.
	The couple walked to where she was sitting with a questioning
look.  Mr CiDapryo spoke first, "Who are you?"
	"I'm Lito Kina...I mean, Lita Kino."  Lita corrected herself.
It was hard to think amongst the white haze that was blanketing her.
	"Oh, so you're Lita.  Leonardo's been talking about you a
lot lately. Great that we've finally got to meet you, even if it's 
under these horrid circumstances."  Mr CiDapryo was friendly and very
outgoing.
	"How'd you know about this and get here so fast?"  Mrs CiDapryo
asked bluntly.
	"I was there.  We were walking down the street and this car
came out of no where, I guess and he pushed me away."  Lita explained,
leaving out any minute detail.
	"Why?!"  Mrs CiDapryo demanded, "Why did you let him do that?"
	"I didn't know.  There was no time to react,"  Lita defended,
although inside, she was asking herself the same question.
	"You should have been more careful, knowing his condition."
Mrs CiDapryo castigated.
	"Now, honey."  Mr CiDapryo soothed her, "He knows how to take 
care of himself, no need to baby him."
	"What's his condition?" Lita asked.  The paramedics had been
yelling out medical jargon for the whole ride, but she still didn't
know what was wrong with Leo.
	Mrs CiDapryo almost slapped her forehead, "He's a hemophiliac."
	"What?"  Lita asked. She didn't know what the heck that was.
	"He's a bleeder."
	"I know, that's what the paramedics said. Everyone bleeds."
Lita replied.
	"No, no, you ignorant girl.  To put it bluntly, once he starts
to bleed, he can't stop.  His blood won't stop like ours does when we
get a cut.  He can't.  He almost bled to death once."  Mrs CiDapryo
explained.
	Stunned, Lita sat silent.  She had no idea that Leo's condition
was serious. Up until now, she didn't even know he had a condition. She
was speechless.  The only thing she could manage to utter was, "I'm
sorry.  I should have-"
	"No, no, you didn't know.  Don't go blaming yourself.  Now,
Elaine, don't go blaming the poor girl.  She didn't know."  Mr CiDapryo
was used to the hysteria of his wife by now.
	"But ignorance isn't an excuse!"  
	"Calm down, Elaine.  Don't worry."
	"Worry?  My baby boy is in there bleeding to death and-" 
suddenly, Mrs CiDapryo sank down. She seemed to shrink right before
Lita's eyes.  "Oh my goodness.  I realized something."
	"What?"
	"Ken, he's on that trip to Switzerland!  He's Leonardo's 
donor!  Oh no, how is he going to get the blood?"  Mrs CiDapryo 
shouted.
	"I'm sure they have a blood bank full of all kinds of blood 
for the hemophiliacs,"  Mr CiDapryo assured her.  He sat his wife down
and looked over at Lita.  "Don't look so pale.  He's going to be
alright."
	"I'm really sorry,"  Lita apologized again.
	"What's that on your arm?"  Mr CiDapryo asked, pointing to the
Band-Aid on the inside of Lita's elbow.
	"Oh, nothing,"  she said absently.
	Putting two and two together, Mr CiDapryo figured the reason
Lita was so pale and had that Band-Aid was because she had been
giving blood.  He reached over and patted her arm, "Thank you."
	"What?"
	"Thanks for doing this for our son."  He said with a knowing
nod.
	"It was the least I could do,"  Lita finally replied.
	After an eternity, the doctor came out and summarized Leo's
condition.  He had been moved from intensive car to the regular rooms
and could be allowed visitors.  First, Mr and Mrs CiDapryo went to
visit Leo in his room.  This time, Mrs CiDapryo was crying tears of
joy because Leo was going to be fine.
	Later, when they came out, they let Lita go in and see him. 
It was sort of a thank you for donating the blood.  Lita never liked 
hospitals.  Everytime she had ever been in one, it was because of bad
news.
	Lying on the hospital bed, with one of his legs raised and 
propped, Leo looked so innocent.  His face was peaceful, and his 
chest moved with every breath.  Lita had been told he was still 
sleeping, so she tried not to wake him.
	Lita sat on the chair placed next to his bed and stared at 
him.  What was it about him that attracted her so much?  True, he
was good looking, but she usually looked beyond that.  He was funny,
outgoing, spontaneous, and always in a cheery mood.  Half of the 
men in the world could have fit that description, so why was she
so attracted to him?  Yes, he did risk his life for her, and she was
grateful for that.  Yet, it wasn't because of that.  Something 
about him just made her heart beat faster, make the days seem 
brighter.
	Unknowingly, Lita held his hand in both of hers and sighed.
It wasn't a chemical attraction.  She really liked him.  She didn't
want to admit it, but she thought of him a lot.
	Slowly, his eyes opened.  His lips parted and he whispered
her name.  Lita's head snapped up and focused her eyes on him.
	"You're awake.  I'll go call your folks,"  Lita said, about 
to get up.
	"No, not yet.  Mom will just get hysterical again."  Leo
stopped her, clutching her dainty hands in his.
	Having no other choice, Lita sat back down.  She was angry, 
but that anger didn't last long.   "Why didn't you tell me?"
	"Tell you what?"
	"About your condition?"  Lita asked.
	"Oh, I guess Mom told you then."  
	"Why, didn't you tell me?"  she repeated again.
	"What if I did?  Would what happened between us change?" He
asked her.
	That was a hard question.  If she had known about him, then
she would have been more careful.  She would have watched out for
him when they went out.
	"Lita, not everyone in the world is open minded.  Almost
every girl I dated backed off when I told them I was a bleeder.
They got scared.  Soon, I just learned and didn't tell them.  Some
of them treat me like a disease or something."  He said, revealing
the naked truth.
	Lita shook her head violently.  "No, I wouldn't have done
that! I'm not like that."
	"Are you?"
	"No!"  She insisted.  "It's just that-"
	"Tell me the truth.  I can handle it."
	"I guess I would have been more careful with you."
	"What do you mean?"
	"I'd look out to make sure you didn't get hurt."  She said.
	A small smile appeared on Leo's face.  "Is that the truth?"
	With a large sigh, Lita collapsed.  Her composure was gone,
and she just slumped there.  She mumbled, "Everyone I meet gets hurt
because of me."
	"What?" Leo asked, tipping her head up to meet his full gaze.
	"Everyone gets hurt because of you.  Ken gets hurt, my 
friends get hurt, and now you're getting hurt.  It would be best
if we just stayed away from each other.  That way, no one would be
hurt."  Lita said.  She couldn't explain it, but no matter how 
careful she was, someone always managed to get hurt.
	"Is that how you solve everything? Just walk away?"
	"You don't understand."
	"I do.  But I can't just not see you for the rest of my life.
Look, I'll tell you something.  But promise me you won't tell Ken
I told you."
	"I promise,"  Lita whispered.		
	"Before Ken left, he asked me to look after you.  I agreed.
At first, I thought I'd just check up on you from time to time-"
	"Ken told you to spy on me?!" Lita demanded, this didn't
sound like the Ken she knew.
	"No, not like that.  He just told me to make sure you were
okay. You know, take you out a couple of times, as friends.  That
was my first intention.  But the more I got to know you, the harder
it was for me to think of you as just a friend.  And now, I've
never felt this way before."  Leo admitted.
	Suddenly, Mr and Mrs CiDapryo burst in, happy to see their
son awake.  Lita slowly moved out, being forgotten among all this
family stuff.  Leo planted his eyes on her, giving her a look before
starting to talk to his parents.



	"So when are you going to let me move?"  For a second, Ken
could almost picture Lita sitting there, shouting playfully at him.
	Without looking up from the canvas, Ken said, "In a minute."
	"You've been saying that for a whole hour!"  She whined,
quickly wiping some sweat off her brow.
	He brushed some finishing touches on the figure in the canvas
and sat back to look at it.  He nodded.  "Okay, you can move now.  I
can do the background without you modeling for you."
	"Gee, sounds like you're trying to get rid of me now that
you don't need a model."  The girl walked over and planted a small
kiss on his forehead before sitting down next to him.  She scrutinized
the painting, watching as Ken's hands flew over the canvas,
painting the sky, the grass, building a whole Eden on the canvas.
	"You know that's not true,"  he said absentmindedly.  He
would never look too intrusted in anything while painting.  He would
be in a world of his own.
	"It's good.  Looks almost like a dream,"  Cindy remarked.
	"It's not as good as I want it to be,"  said Ken modestly.
	Cindy wrapped her arm around his free arm, which was also the
one he was leaning on and both of the collapsed onto the grass
together.  After a bout of laughter, Ken sighed.  It was great there. 
Classes in the morning, and the rest of the day was free for him to
study the beauty around him, paint all that his heart desired.  If
only Lita could be there.
	With her head on Ken's chest, Cindy could hear his heartbeat. 
She sighed contently.  "You know, now that I look at it."
	"Look at what?"
	"The painting you had me model for,"  Cindy reminded him. 
"They don't resemble me much."
	Although it was hard to tell, since Ken painted all the
figure with blurry faces, where only slight features could be seen,
Cindy didn't think any of them looked like her, even if she did model
for him.
	"What do you mean?"  Ken asked, a bit too soon.
	"I feel like you're painting someone else,"  Cindy said
bluntly.  She could feel his body stiffen as soon as she said that.
	"I'm not,"  he whispered.
	"Are you drawing Lita?"  For the past month she had known
him, she had also got to know about his "friend" Lita.
	"No, what makes you think that?"  
	"Do you have a picture of her?"  Cindy could feel his
heartbeat quicken to that question.
	Ken got into a sitting position and fished his wallet out of
his pocket.  "I only have one."
	"Let's see it.  I'd like to see how she looks."  Cindy
replied.
	Slowly, Ken took the picture out of his wallet.  It was a
casual picture of him and Lita at the park.  She had a silly grin on
and her head tipped toward him, as if to ask a question.  It was his
favorite picture, even lamented.
	As Cindy looked at it, a realization struck her.  If she tied
her hair in the same way Lita tied, it was a little taller, then she
could have qualified as a double of Lita.  She reached for the
picture, "Can I see it?"
	Ken handed the picture to her. Surprisingly, Cindy took it
and ripped it with strength into two pieces.  Calmly, she handed it
back to him.
	"Wha-"
	"All this time!  The only reason was because I looked like
her, wasn't it?!"  Cindy demanded.
	"No!"
	"Tell the truth Ken!  I'm not stupid, you know.  All those
pictures you had me model for, you drew her instead of me!"  Tears
were streaming down her face now.
	"Cindy,"  Ken wiped those tears with a paint stained finger.
	"No, don't!"  She drew away from him and got up.  "I poured
my soul out to you.  And all you've ever done for me is what?  You
didn't do anything for me!  You just kept making yourself pretend I
was her!  Why?  I'd bet if I didn't look like her, then...then....we
wouldn't be this close.  Am I right?"
	Ken struggled for an answer.  He didn't want to admit it, but
it was partly true.
	"See!  I can't believe you!"  Cindy stomped off towards the
facilities about a mile away.
	"Cindy!"  Ken called again.
	"I loved you!"  She said with finality.
	With a defeated breath, Ken sank down on the ground, laying
on his back.  He looked up at the white puffs of clouds in the wide
blue sky.  Lita could be looking at the same clouds right now, or a
little later.  He laid there alone, with only the memories of the
girl he loved to keep him company. The torn photograph blew away as
soon as the breeze came.


	Lita closed her eyes, welcoming the wonderful darkness that
accompanied it.  It was a breezy and cold day, but she was perfectly
comfortable.  It was a hot day, and she was holding a nice cold water
bottle.  That's what it felt like to her.
	Suddenly, like a hot current through a wire, she felt 
something.  It was one of her hundred secret senses.  Something like 
a sixth sense, only she believed there were more than six.  Her 
mother had once told her that everyone had a hundred secret senses.  
Those senses were special.  They sensed what a certain box 
contained, who might be calling, what would be on as soon as she 
turned on the television.  It was also those senses that would 
tingle her nose, telling her it was spring, water her eyes, telling 
her it was a dry day, or make her skin itch, telling her it would be 
raining.  It was those senses that told her if a good thing was 
happening, or a bad thing was happening.
    Now, she felt something bad happen.  It was the same sinking 
feeling she got when she knew for sure she forgot something, or 
didn't do something right.
    "What's wrong?"  Leo asked.  All of a sudden, he had felt her 
tense up like a rubber band ready to snap.  "You've been so down 
and out lately. Did I do something wrong?"
    "When you've seen the end of the world, there's not much to be 
happy for."  Lita replied in melancholy.
    "Have you?"
    "No,"  she lied.  She knew Leo didn't really believe her 
literally on that, and thought she was just speaking in metaphors.
    Leo brushed a strand of hair from her face, "So what's really 
wrong?"
    "Nothing,"  she said softly and sank deeper into his embrace.  
"How's your leg?"
    "Happens to me all the time, nothing new."  He said 
non-chalantly.
    "Sure, Leonardo?"  Lita asked, saying his full name for the 
first time she had met him.
    Chuckling, he said, "Don't call me that.  My parents call me 
that."
    "And am I not worthy of calling you that?"
    "No, of course not.  It's just weird, that's all.  I'm used to 
my parents calling me that."
    "I guess I understand.  It's like what Ken does.  He's the only 
one who calls me Li, so it's kind of reserved for him.  Is it like 
that?"
    "Kind of,"  Leo said, with a hint of jealously.
    "You know, Ken loved doing this.  We'd sit out here all day just 
staring at the sky.  Then, we'd guess all the shapes the clouds were 
formed in."  Lita volunteered a tidbit of information.
    Leo closed his eyes, trying to shut out the jealously growing 
like a weed in him.  It was bad to be jealous of your best friend.  
It was even worse to be jealous that your best friend is the lucky 
man with the woman you loved.
    "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean it that way."  Lita said, suddenly 
peering at him with those wide innocent green eyes.
    "It's okay.  I know you love him."  Leo said and sat up, taking 
his arms from around her.
    "I do, but I-"  
    Interrupting her, he shook his head, "No, don't say it.  Because 
you'll probably regret it."
    "No, I won't. I love you too."  Lita admitted.
    It would have been heaven if that "too" hadn't been in the 
sentence.  Leo looked sad, "I'll always be second while Ken's 
around.  I know."
    "But...but..."  Lita struggled to find something to cheer him 
up.  Finally, she resolved with, "There are plenty of other 
opportunities for you.  You're nice, funny, you have a great 
personality, warm, loving, like a giant teddy bear, and you're not 
lacking in the looks department either."
    Giving her a feeble smile, Leo said, "Thanks.  Do you know how 
crazy you drive me?  One minute, you're the only one I want to be 
with, the next, I'm forcing my self to think of anything else but 
you."
    "We're young and inexperienced,"  was all Lita could manage to 
come up with.
    "Ken's going to be back next week,"  he said with finality. "I 
guess we should just be friends.  You won't be needing me anymore, 
at least."
    Lita shook her head, "Is that what you think I'm using you for? 
I'm not!  I'm not like that.  I really, really, really, have 
feelings for you.  I love you.  And if Ken-"
    "I know, I know.  If Ken wasn't here, you'd love to be with me.  
But that's not the case.  Ken is coming back and I'll be losing you, 
end of sentence period."  Leo replied dully.
    Lita checked her watch. It was about time she started for her 
house, where the weekly scout meeting was going to be held.  "I have 
to go, Leo."
    "Yeah,"
    Leaning over, Lita gave him the last kiss they would ever be 
sharing.  His mouth played on hers, like a ravaged person searching 
for water.  When they separated, both were flushed. Leo cupped her 
head in his hands and touched her smooth skin.  
    "Take care Lita."  He said.
    "You too,"  she replied with a knowing look.
    "You know I will."  By now, Lita was walking down the path out 
of the park.  
    Turning around, Lita saw him still sitting there staring after 
her.  "I love you."
    "Me too.  Maybe in another lifetime,"  Leo offered and watched 
as the first girl he had ever loved walked out of his life.
    "Maybe,"  Lita repeated softly for herself.  She made a wish as 
she stopped by the small wishing pond at the park.  She threw a 
bunch of change into the pond, wishing with all her soul for Leo to 
find someone that would make him happy and that they'll live happily 
ever after.

    
    Inventory:  Two suitcases, one carry on bag, one duffel bag, and 
a partridge in a pear tree.  No, cross the last one off.
    "I have everything I need,"  Ken said to himself.
    "Ken,"  A voice called to him.  He turned to see Cindy, standing 
with two bags slung over her shoulder and a smile plastered to her 
face.
    "Cindy."
    "I just wanted to say good bye,"  Cindy put her bags down and 
held her arms out.
    Ken gave her a big friend hug and a kiss on the cheek.  "I'm 
still sorry for-"
    "No, I understand. I just hope, one day I'll find someone who 
has treated me like you did. You made me feel special."  She laughed 
nervously, "Looks like I'm learning how to live an illusion too."
    "Everyone lives in their own.  Without that, how can we be 
happy?"  Ken replied and let go of her.  "Do you want me to carry 
the stuff to your terminal?"
    Busy people rushed about the airport.  Experienced travelers 
walked casually around with their cellular and pagers, while the 
first timers sat anxiously on the plastic seats bolted securely on 
the tile floor, waiting for their flight to be called.
    "No, you'll be late to yours.  Bye,"  Cindy said and gave him a 
quick peck on the cheek for good luck in life.  
    "Bye,"  He turned around and walked toward his flight, which 
they were now calling.  As he boarded the plane, he left behind 
"normal" life and returned to his regular life.
    

*********************************************************************

Sorry this is so long and dull.  They're just getting longer and 
longer and duller and more plotless, aren't they?  Just in case
you forgot, this whole story was in the past.  The next chapter will
also be in this time-frame, maybe a week later.

			Ladyjupiter@sailorjupiter.com
**********Copyright 1998 Lady Jupiter  (All Rights Reserved)*************