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.
______________________________________________________________________
Thanks to:
Mike for the new E-mail address.
Saul for editting it.
Kevin for the reviews.

__________________________________________________
|  Visit my homepage at:			 |
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|  Official site of Lady Jupiter's stories.      |
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Remember When?  (6)
House Cleaning 
Lady Jupiter (LadyJupiter@SailorJupiter.com)


	"I don't really remember how I got there, but I just 
remember that someone, something was calling me.  I know how absurd 
that sounds, but that's all I remember about getting there.  A 
voice, a soft and desperate voice kept calling and calling and 
calling me.  I didn't want to listen, but it just wouldn't let go, 
so I followed.  Like that tale of those ladies on the island who 
lure sailors into their doom-"  Ken tried to remember the name of 
those ladies.
    "Yes, I remember that story."  Ami nodded, "But go on with the 
rest."
    They were sprawled out in Lita's living room.  Serena had a tub 
of popcorn in one hand, Darien's arm in another.  Rei and Mina were 
braiding each other's hair, but stopped to listen intently, as he 
got to the interesting part.  Luna and Artemis both sat on a couch 
cushion on the floor and nodded at every other thing said.  Ami had 
volume 7 of Euclid's Elements in one hand, and a pencil in another.  
Only Lita sat there, totally absorbed in the story being told, hands 
on her crossed legs, eyes wide with amazement.    	
    "I reached an alley with a dead end.  Somehow, I always end up 
in those.  I had that gut feeling. That feeling I get whenever 
Lita's in trouble-"  Ken continued, looking at Lita out of the 
corner of his eye.
    "Oh, I know what you mean. I get that feeling whenever the 
scouts are in trouble too."  Darien agreed.  "It's kinda like a 
cross between heartburn and nausea."
    "-so I just looked around for danger."  Ken said after nodding 
to Darien, "I guess I wasn't really thinking that time, probably too 
late at night, but I just started searching everywhere for her.  Out 
of instinct, I transformed. As soon as I transformed, I heard a 
voice, distinctly Lita's call me.  I hopped over the back fence of 
the ally-"
    "I thought you said you were in a dead end?"  Serena interrupted.
    "I was, but the end was the fence that separated the park from 
the building.  That whole city in Switzerland is strange.  I jumped 
over the fence and saw Sailor Jupiter there facing against a youma.  
It looked like she was in shock or something so I stepped forward to 
help her. But as soon as I got within five feet of her, Sailor 
Jupiter transformed into this tall, tall chick with crazy orange 
hair.  Oh man, her hair was crazy.  It looked like she stuck her 
finger in an electrical socket.  Way worse than Einstein.   About 
three times worse as Don King. Whatever happened to Don-"  Ken was 
starting to stray off the subject again.
    Amy, who had set down the book and started taking notes from 
what was being said reminded him to stay on subject.
    "Since I was facing the lady with the orange hair, I think her 
name is Scanty? Panty?  Scander?  Something like that, she's  
probably one of the Negaverse generals.  Since I was facing her, the 
youma was at my back and instead of slash and overkill like they 
usually do, I felt it hit me over the head with something, maybe a 
2x4 or something."
	"A what?" Lita interrupted.
	"It's one of those huge wooden pole things they use as the 
frame for houses." Ken explained.  "Everything blacked out after
that.  But the one thing I remember before waking up in the 
hospital was hearing Lita's voice screaming over and over and over
again. Not like a broken record, some screams were distress, pain,
and others were those times she shouted at me.  Pretty weird, huh?"
    Everyone just sat silent for a while, trying to put sense into 
everything being said.  Even Serena was thinking hard and trying to 
put the pieces together.
    Artemis finally spoke, "I think the lady's name is Scandite.  
Her name's on one of few Negaverse files I have access to."
    "I read somewhere-" Mina started but stopped as soon as 
everyone's eyes started to bulge out.
    "You read?!"  Lita asked, disbelieving it.
    "Only sometimes." Mina admitted.
    "Ok, go on.  But you?  Read?  That's kinda hard to imagine."  
Lita let her continue.
    "I read in the Vogue magazine while I was brushing my hair, that 
people can use submarine thoughts to distrust the mind."  Mina tried 
to quote.
    At first, everyone was confused at what she just said, but Ami 
got it straight. She explained, "I think she's saying that 
subconscious thoughts can distort the mind."
    "But can it distort it to the point of amnesia?"  Luna 
questioned.    
    "Maybe that's what she did with Ken,"  Darien suggested.
    Mina shook her head, "No, that doesn't sound very Negaverse-ish 
to me."
    They all agreed on that.
    "It doesn't sound like something the Negaverse would do, but it 
does sound like someone from the Negaverse would do.  Some of the 
generals are pretty clever when it comes to revenge."  Lita 
mentioned.
    "Yes, too bad all that cleverness is wasted. We could have used 
a few of them on the good side,"  Ami sighed.  She hated watching a 
perfectly good mind go bad.
    "I guess how I got amnesia is just another one of those unsolved 
mysteries."  Ken shrugged.
    "Yeah, the important thing is that you're back."  Lita offered.


    Lita woke up well before her alarm clock had.  She lay still in 
bed for a few seconds.  She knew what day it was.  She knew exactly 
what day it was.  This day had been special to her since she was old 
enough to hold a dust pan.  It was annual house cleaning day.
    "Surprise Clean Day" was what her mother called it.  Every year 
on June 1st, Lita remembered her whole family turning the apartment 
inside out and cleaning.  Even after her parents passed on, she did 
it on the exact same day and did the exact same things.
    She groaned softly as she got off her bed, stretching out her 
body, feeling a few pleasant cracks and clicks.  It was still dark 
out, but she knew it would be a long day ahead of her.  She didn't 
consider this day a chore. Ironically, the older she got, the more 
she looked forward to this day.  It was almost like Christmas.  
Cleaning everything in the closest, reliving old memories, storing 
new ones were all like unwrapping gifts for herself.
    After carefully tying her hair up in a neat bun and putting on 
her house cleaning clothes, she went to fetch all the supplies out 
of the cupboard under the sink.  A mop from the pantry, about five 
bottles of different cleaners, a fresh bag of sponges, a pail, a 
duster, a dust-pan, and her favorite, her pink rag. She had that rag 
for about ten years already and it was getting pretty beat up, but 
it still cleaned better than anything on those cheesy infomercials.
    Just as she stooped down, ready to pick up the filled pail, the 
phone rang.  Lita sighed, <I wonder who could be calling at this 
hour?>
    "Yeah, Lita here."  She answered.
    "Lita? I'm on my way to the park, do you want me to drop by your 
place so we could walk there together?"  Ken asked.
    Then, it struck her.  She forgot all about it.  Today was one of 
the days Luna scheduled for "conditioning", or what the others 
referred to as "hell-xercise."  They would go there at the crack of 
dawn, usually the same park, and then they'd work their butts off 
for about 12 hours with small breaks in between.
    "Oh, Ken.  I'm sorry. You'll have to go without me.  I'm going 
to miss today."  She apologized.
    "Are you sick?"
    "No."  She knew how important it was for her and Ken to work 
together because it got them more familiar with their powers and 
combining it, but this day was more important.  It was part of her 
"philosophy of life".
    "But you never miss any of the practices,"  Ken reminded her.
    <Why is he making it so hard?>  Lita thought.  She said softly, 
"I'm going to miss one today.  I have to clean."
    "Cleaning can wait another day."  Ken insisted.
    "It's Surprise Clean Day,"  Lita finally said.  
    He understood that.  He knew how special that day it was to 
Lita.  "Oh...why didn't you say so?  Okay, you do what you have to 
do.  I'll tell the others."
    "Thanks, Ken."
    "Are you sure you're going to be alright?"  Ken knew that the 
day was special to her, but he also knew that some of the things she 
had to clean gave her bad memories.
    "I'll be fine.  Work hard for me."  She added with a touch of 
lightness.
    "I will.  Bye, Li." 
    "Bye, Kennie."  Lita hung up the phone.  She had a thought to 
unplug the phone, but decided against it.  If one of the scouts 
called and found her phone disconnected, they'd become worried and 
rush over here.  Better to leave it on.
    First, Lita started with the kitchen. Everything went smoothly 
in there.  She threw away any overdue foods, rearranged her spice 
cabinet, put her utensils into the right drawers, and even cleaned 
off her fridge magnets.
    Then, she moved on to her bathroom.  There wasn't much in there 
to clean since she would clean it regularly once a week anyway.  The 
only thing she did was throw away the old toothbrushes and put in 
new ones.
    Her bedroom was a different story.  Lita looked around, 
wondering what to start on in there.  The closet was an easy 
target.  Upon opening it, Lita almost drowned in the avalanche of 
junk that tumbled down.  About twenty tennis balls, two rackets, a 
few board games, two tennis shoes, one bicycle helmet, and some 
other miscellaneous stuff all fell in a clatter on her.  After half 
an hour, Lita had placed all that had fallen in it's original 
places, which was not her bedroom closet.  Oddly enough, when she 
put the rackets into the living room closet, she saw it was empty of 
what it used to be full of.  
    Since she was in no hurry, Lita started to sort her clothes out 
depending on color.  All the way in back of her closet was a plain 
black dress.  She knew all too well when she wore that dress last...


    "Isn't this adorable, sweetie?"  her mother asked her.
    Lita shook her head, "I don't like it, Mommy."
    Her mother frowned, but it quickly disappeared, "Why don't you 
tell me then, Lita.  What would a ten year old like you want in a 
dress?"
    That's when she saw it.  Lita saw the dress hanging all the way 
in the back of the store.  She knew she just *had* to have it. After 
all, her mother had the exact dress, only a larger version.  Lita 
looked at her mother.  She was tall.  Lita watched as she looked 
around the store, her rich red hair cascading down her shoulders, 
kept off her face by a green silk scarf.
    "When I grow up, I want to be just like you, Mommy."  Lita said 
to her.
    Her mother laughed, a tinkling laugh.  "Are you sure, Lita? 
Don't you want to be your own person?"
    "I want to be like you,"  Lita insisted.
    Smiling softly, her mother replied, "If you insist. But let's 
see what you say in a few years before you make such a big decision, 
okay sweetie?"
    "Ok, Mommy."
    "What are my two favorite ladies talking about now?"  Lita's 
father came and put his hands on her shoulders.
    "That's Lita and my little secret."  Faith Kino said to her 
husband.  She took Lita by the hand to a different isle, saying over 
her shoulder to her husband, "Are you done picking out a tux?"
    Lita's father laughed, "Yes, of course.  I don't take as long as 
you women do."
    "I love that dress, Mommy."  Lita said, starting up her act.  It 
was the same act she'd use to make her mother buy her something.  It 
didn't work all the time, but it worked enough times.
    Faith looked at the direction her daughter was pointing.  There, 
on a lone hanger was a simple black dress, probably made of satin 
and came even with matching gloves.
    "I don't know, isn't it a little too old for you, dear?"  Faith 
asked her daughter.
    Lita shook her head, "But Mommy, I want to look like you.  You 
look nice in dresses like that."
    "Yes, it's a nice dress.  I'll buy it for you, but wait 'til 
you're a little older to wear it okay? It's a dress for serious 
affairs."  Faith advised.
    And the last time Lita wore it was at her parent's funeral. That 
was as serious as it got.

		                ********

    Lita put the dress back into the closet, where all her other black 
colored clothes were.  After an hour and a half, she categorized 
every single article of clothing into separate colors.  Now that she 
stepped back and evaluated her job, she thought it looked pretty 
good in her closet.
    Her dresser was an easier task since there weren't as many 
articles on it.  She just dusted it and tucked all the loose items 
hanging out of the drawers in.  Before she left it, something caught 
her eye.  It was a small shiny silver object...a fallen button.  
Delicately, Lita fingered it trying to remember where the button 
came from.  It didn't look like anything from her wardrobe.  Surely, 
she would have noticed it if there was a missing button somewhere.
    Then, she remembered the exact moment the button popped loose...


    It was getting late and the darkness only proved that theory.  
The walk home was taking longer than she expected.  Maybe it was a 
bad idea to turn down the bus ride after all.  Involuntarily, Lita 
shivered as a cold breeze blew past her.
    "Cold?"  Ken asked her, holding her around the waist tighter.
    "No."
    A chuckle came from him.  "You liar."
    Lita shrugged her shoulders and protested.  "It's not cold."
    Ken stopped and took off his jacket. He carefully put it around 
her and buttoned her up from the very bottom button to the very top 
button.  Already, Lita was feeling cozy in the warm jacket.  She 
closed her eyes for a while, just taking in the scent of the jacket. 
It smelled like Ken.
    "I didn't expect it to be this cold."  Lita said quietly.
    He just smiled.  "If you had, I don't think you would have 
wanted to wear shorts, huh?"
    Punching him on the arm playfully, Lita replied, "You got that 
right mister."
    At the door of her apartment, Lita fumbled for the keys. When 
she finally got the door open, she asked Ken if he wanted to go in.
    "That's alright.  I should get going to my house. It's getting 
late."  Ken replied and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
    "Wait, take your jacket,"  Lita insisted.
    Ken just turned, "It's okay. Bring it back to me whenever you 
see me next time."
    Lita frantically tried to unbutton the jacket before Ken got too 
far.  "Ken, wait up. Take the jacket, it's going to be cold."   
    "It already is, but don't worry. It's a short walk."
    "Liar," Lita replied.  "You have to walk three blocks to the bus 
stop then catch the bus to the other side of town, then walk another 
two blocks. You need the jacket."
    "It's okay, really."  Ken declined. 
    "Here,"  Lita had gotten most of the buttons unbuttoned, but 
unfortunately for her rush, she popped the last button.  "Oh no!  
I'm so sorry, Ken."
    The button fell onto the floor silently. Ken stooped down to 
pick it up, then looked at where it had escaped from.  He shrugged, 
"It's okay. I'll fix it."
    Lita handed him the jacket, but took the button. "Next time you 
come, bring me the jacket and I'll sew it back on for you, okay?"
    "Thanks, you're a doll."
    "Good night, Ken. I'm sorry about the button." She apologized 
again.
    Waving it off, Ken started down the elevator, "It's okay.  
Harmless mistake. Good night."

		                ********
    
	Lita put the button back to its original place after she
dusted the counter off.  She looked around and saw that her room
looked better than ever.  She moved on to the living room.  There,
she sat on the floor by the closet and started to sort through the
clutter in there.
	She found an old record player and some records.  As soon as
she plugged it in and put one of the records in there, memories
flooded by.  Her mother used to hum that song to her.  She could
still imagine herself sitting on the rocking chair with mom as they
listened to the record...

	"Mommy, why do you sing?"  Lita asked, interlocking her
chubby fingers in her lap.
	"I sing because I'm happy, sweetie.  Singing is like magic." 
Her mother replied.
	"So are you like the magician on TV?" 
	Faith smiled down at her daughter and patted her hand.  "Kind
of, Lita.  The magician can make people laugh right?"
	"Right."
	"And so can singers.  Good singers can make a person happy
just by singing,"  she explained.
	"You're a good singer, Mommy."  Lita told her and smiled up
at her mom.  "Can I be a good singer like you when I grow up?"
	Faith laughed her musical laugh, "Honey, you can be anything
you want to be as long as you know it's right."
	Just then, the front door opened and a tall man in a business
suit walked in, all smiles.  "How's my beautiful family?"
	"Hi Daddy!"  Lita shouted an ran to her father to give him a
hug.
	"Hey, my little princess."  her father lifted her up and
swung her around the room, plotting her down on the couch.
	"How was work, Dust?"  Faith asked her husband after getting
up from the rocking chair.
	"The usual. How was your cooking expo?" Dustin Kino replied,
after a small wink to his daughter.
	Faith smiled and said happily, "They want me to write a cook
book so they can publish my recipes."
	"That's great!"  Dustin said excitedly.
	Lita watched the exchange go on between her parents and
thought she was the most lucky six year old in the world.  Her mother
went to go take the record off the player.
	"Wait," Dustin stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder. 
"This calls for a celebration."
	Gracefully, Lita's parents danced to the song on the record.
Even if the record was a little old and skipped, no one seemed to
notice. Everyone was smiling as if in heaven.
	"You can dance the next dance with me," Dustin promised Lita
as he waltzed by her in the living room.

		                ********
	
	As the needle skipped of the record, Lita was thrown back
into reality. Hastily, she put all the records away in alphabetical
order and closed the player.  She put it back into the closet and
spotted something in the corner.  It was bright plastic and yellow.
	"My rain coat,"  Lita said absently and pulled it out.  It
was about five sizes too small for her now, but she remembered all
the fun she used to have in the rain with it.
Lita hung that carefully in the closet and proceeded to
clean the rest of the closet and living room.

		
                           **********


    Exhausted, Lita crumbled into the easy chair and threw down her 
rag.  From where she lay her head, she rolled her eyes around, 
surveying the work she did.  Her apartment was now spotless.  
Everything was in its right place and everything was free of 
irritating dust.
    She was almost sorry she had to get up.  Her hands were dirty, 
her clothes had stains, dust marks, oil marks, almost anything 
feared by clean clothes on them.  She didn't want to touch anything, 
for fear of getting it dirty again.  Quickly, she hopped into the 
shower, trying to make contact with as little as possible and turned 
on the soothing water.
    Just as soon as she stepped out of the shower smelling fresh and 
looking as spotless as her apartment, the doorbell rang.  She went 
to go get it.  Already, it was 10:30 at night and she wondered 
absently to herself what happened to lunch and dinner. So busy with 
cleaning, she just plain forgot about eating.
    As if reading her mind, when Lita opened the door, there stood 
Ken with a Chinese takeout box in his hand and a smile on his face.
    "Ken,"  Lita greeted and let him in.
    He walked in and set the box down on the coffee table. After a 
quick look around, he concluded, "Wow, you really did some cleaning, 
Li."
    "Yes, it took me all day, but I finally finished."  Lita nodded.
    Ken peered at her, his bright blue eyes peaking from underneath 
his bangs.  Lita noticed how beads of moisture hung from his bangs.
    "Can I ask you something?"  Ken asked.
    With him looking at her like that, she replied, "Anything."
    "Can I take a shower in your bathroom?  I just came back from 
practice with the others,"  Ken explained all the perspiration on 
his clothes.  It wasn't 'til he mentioned it that Lita had noticed 
how soaked his clothes were and how grass stained his sweats were.
    "Sure, go ahead.  On one condition."
    "What's that?"
    "Give me your clothes so I can wash them."
    "If you insist," Ken smiled and headed to the restroom.
    When the bathroom door closed, Lita sneaked a peek into the food 
box.  Already, the aromas were enticing her to eat.  Her growling 
stomach wasn't helping much either.
    She turned on the TV to take her mind off the food until Ken 
came out of the restroom. She hoped that was soon.
    "If I had the time, I could have cooked something better."  Lita 
said to herself.  It was the third time she opened the carton of 
food and looked at it.
    "No doubt in that,"  Ken responded over her shoulder.
    Lita jumped a little, caught off guard.  She turned and looked 
at him.  "Done already?"
    "Yeah, I was getting hungry and I can tell you were."  Ken 
replied.  He threw the towel which he used to dry his hair into the 
hamper and started to set the table.
    "No, let's eat here.  I don't feel like eating in the kitchen 
today."  Lita patted a spot next to the sofa she was sitting on.
    Ken grinned and brought over an empty bowl to put the food in.  
"Good idea, Li."
    "So, let's check what's on the tube."  Lita suggested and 
started clicking the channels.
    Two hours later, two figures were leaning against each other, 
immersed in a reward called sleep.  An empty bowl and an empty food 
carton lay on the coffee table next to two pairs of chopsticks.  The 
night was calm and the slight breeze from the window was 
refreshing.  Crickets chirped consistently, but it didn't seem to 
bother the sleeping couple.
	Lita snuggled up deeper towards Ken and unconsciously made a 
gurgling sound. Usually, that didn't bother Ken, but something in 
the back of his head was nagging and nagging him, telling him there 
was something he had to do.  Suddenly, he bolted upright, sending 
Lita sprawling to the other side of the sofa.
    "Holy crap!"  Ken exclaimed as he jumped off the sofa.
    A still dazed and confused Lita frowned at him, trying to see if 
it was night or day.  "Huh?"
    Ken gathered up the leftovers, which wasn't much, tossed them 
into the trash and put the dirty dishes in the sink.  When walking 
around the apartment, he ran into several pieces of furniture, some
making him mumble a profanity while others just proving to be a mild 
discomfort.
    "What are you rushing for Ken?  It's almost two in the morning. 
There's no school, there's no work, there's no scout meeting."  Lita 
reminded him, picking up a few fallen items from the shelf he ran 
into.
    "I told mom I'd be home by 11:30.  I'm way past late."
    Mrs. Miyake was forgiving and understanding and Lita knew it.  
"Don't worry, your Mom won't get too mad."
    Rapidly, Ken shook his head.  He stood in the middle of the 
dining room and searched around to see if he had left anything 
behind.  "They told me to come home early tonight because early 
tomorrow morning, we're driving out to some other town to visit 
Mom's sick cousin or something.  Oh man, I hope they're not waiting 
up for me."
    Now knowing what the rush was about, Lita started to push him 
out the door.  "Be careful out there. Lots of wierdos out at night 
now.  G'night Kennie."
    Ken gave her a quick, sloppy kiss on the lips and rushed out the 
door.
    "Send my regards to your parents,"  Lita said as she leaned on 
the doorframe and watched him hurry down the stairs, not even 
bothering to take the elevator.
    Having been roused up from a pleasant, blissful sleep, Lita was 
now wide awake.  Being fully alert and conscious in the middle of 
midnight wasn't something she usually was.  And what a wonderful 
opportunity to check what shows were on during graveyard hours.
    Lita flipped on the television and started clicking.  The first 
thing that came on was some show with _very_ physically gifted girls 
in swimsuits and defined men running around the beach.  [I didn't 
know Baywatch was on this late.]    
    That show wasn't too interesting so she changed the channel 
again.  This time, it was on another show.  A sitcom, it seemed.  
There wasn't anything interesting about that sitcom.  The only thing 
that caught her attention was how un-interesting the scene was.  
There was a girl sitting at the foot of a couch wearing normal 
clothes, jeans and a tank top eating pizza. Beside the girl was a 
guy on the couch also eating pizza and who seemed to be the same age 
as the girl.  That was fairly ordinary.  Their conversation seemed a 
bit out of place though.
    "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"  The girl asked, 
biting down on another pizza.  That was the first sentence that 
caught Lita's ears.
    "Oh yeah, baby, it was go-od."  The boy replied, arching an 
eyebrow.
    "The best huh?" The girl asked.
    "Can I do it again?"  The boy ignored the girls question and 
asked one of his own.
    The girl put the pizza down and frowned, "You sure you can have 
another right after the first one?"
    "Sure I can."
    "Really? Aren't you going to be pooped?"
    "No way. I can go on like this for hours."  The boy assured her.
    The girl shrugged.  "Okay, whatever you say, Mr. Macho-man."  She 
handed him another box of pizza, his second box that night.
    "Oh yeah, a second box of pizza.  This is go-od."  The boy 
sighed and leaned back to enjoy his meal.
    [So this is why no one stays up to watch late night television 
or early morning television.]  Lita thought and flipped the channel, 
although the girl with the pizza reminded her of someone she knew.
    After a couple of blank channels, Lita found the home shopping 
network.  This time, they were trying to get people to buy some sort 
of cloning machine for about $299.99 or less depending on what 
add-ons they'd buy.
    "-not only does it clone, but it mows lawns, it works as a 
blender, it works as an adapter from your computer to your 
television monitor, it talks, it answers, it thinks, it cleans, it 
cooks, it even watches the stocks so you don't have to.  Tell me, 
ladies and gentlemen, why shouldn't a home be without it?"  The host 
of the infomercial asked with a toothy smile.
    The studio audience clapped as they were supposed to.  Then, 
right on cue, a young lady, fairly young and fairly tall stepped out 
from back stage wearing a white lab coat, much like one of the 
Witches 5.  She smoothed her hair behind one ear nervously and waved 
at the camera.
    "Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you guessed it. Joining us here is 
Professor Louisa M.  She is the wonderful inventor of this 
stupendous machine.  And she is here to show us why she made it and 
why it can work for you."  The microphone was then handed to the 
professor in the lab coat.
    "You see, I always thought that some things in the world should 
be doubled-"  She started before Lita clicked the channel again.
    What she found next was hilarious.  It was some cartoon show 
impersonating the Sailor Scouts.  Only, it was called, "Sailor 
Heroines."  The similarities were still noticeable:  short skirts, 
different hair colors, attacks, shoes, and even a Tuxedo Mask, which 
by the way was called "Masked Gentleman."
    Finally, Lita felt the sleepiness come back into her and turned 
the television off to go to sleep.  Unlike her last sleep, this one 
wasn't as peaceful.  She kept having a thought, not exactly a dream, 
but a thought that kept swimming in and out of her dreams of 
something coming. A big event was coming soon and it was going to 
impact the whole world, but the biggest impact will be on each 
individual persons.
    Of course, Lita had those dreams before, so she knew it wasn't 
something to rely on.  Once, she had the dream that the whole world 
got turned upside down. Everyone was walking around nude and not 
caring about it, cars drove people, dogs read papers, cats talked to 
each other in French, everything was haywire.  At that time, Lita 
believed the dream was true, but now that she looked back on it, she 
shook her head and laughed.


    "Rise and shine, Lazy Lita!"  Mina's cheery voice woke Lita up 
from her troubled sleep.  Confused and surprised, Lita glanced 
around her empty room, wondering how Mina got in there.
    There was no one in the room but herself.  [Oh great, now I'm 
hearing things?]  Lita scratched her head.
    "Over here,"  Mina shouted.
    Lita turned to where the sound was coming from, only seeing a 
lamp.  Knowing the crazy world she lived in, Lita knew what to 
expect.  "Oh no, Mina. The Negaverse turned you into a lamp?!"
    "No, silly. I'm on your answering machine.  It rang and rang for 
at least an hour so I finally decided to wake you up by yelling over 
it."  Mina explained.
    Although it was still early, Lita could have slapped herself.  
She wondered where all her sense went to and picked up the phone, 
shutting off the answering machine and erasing that message.
    "So what's up?"  Lita asked.
    Mina giggled on the other end.  "Definitely not you."
    Like a good sport, Lita laughed along with her.  "I would have 
thought you'd be too sore from yesterday."
    Mina "hrmped" and said, "No.  We all stretched out after the 
practice and no one was too sore this  morning."
    "Oh. Sorry I couldn't make it."  
    Already, Lita could see what Mina was going to say from a mile 
away, but listened anyway.  Mina's voice took on that teasing tone.  
"It's okay, Lita.  I understand that things get in the way."
    "Really?"  She was caught off by that statement.  What she 
really was expecting was some crack about Ken being alone.
    "Yeah, although your boyfriend was a bit lonely without you."  
Mina sprung on her. 
    "Oh, you."  Lita laughed.  "You're so sneaky."
    "Me?"  Mina asked innocently.
    Lita was now dressed and all because she had taken Mina off the 
phone and put her on the speakerphone so she had time to dress.  It 
was a nice and hot day so she put on her white shorts and a striped 
tank top.  "So what brings you to call this early in the morning?"
    "Early?"  Mina asked. "Girl, you better look at the clock. It's 
twelve in the afternoon.  I was wondering if Mrs. Sleepy Head wasn't 
sleeping, want to go play a game of volleyball in the park?"
    Never being one to miss an offer like that, Lita took it on. 
They set the time, synchronized their watches and promised to meet 
at the park.  Lita caught a bite to eat on the way out.  She didn't 
want to be late to the park, but she didn't' want to wait for an hour 
there either, so she decided to go down to the arcade.
    As usual, Andrew was there, being friendly as ever.  Being the 
hot day it was, the Arcade was packed with kids everywhere, some 
playing the games, others just ducking in to get some air 
conditioning from the mall.
    "Hi Andrew,"  Lita greeted as soon as she saw he was free.  "Any 
new games today?"
    "Nope, sorry."  Andrew apologized.  "But you know what?  No one 
could beat your score in Sailor Scout Fighters.  It hasn't been free 
since we got it and _everyone's_ trying to beat your score."
    "Really?"  Lita was a bit flattered.  She didn't know she had 
scored that high.  It had been the first time she played that game 
and all she did was pick Sailor Jupiter to fight against the others, 
and somehow, she won the whole game.
    "Yup.  Not even Game Machine Joe could beat it."  Andrew nodded.
    She didn't know he still came here.  "Oh, is Joe still around? I 
thought he transferred to a UC school or something?"
    "No, he's here for the summer, I guess. Why?  Don't tell me you 
still haven't given up on him yet?"  Andrew teased.
    "Puh-leaze,"  Lita waved her hand, "That's old news. I gave up 
on him a long time ago. Besides, he's not my type."
    "Speaking of your type, how is Ken?"
    Lita was taken back. She didn't know Andrew knew Ken. This part 
of town wasn't where Ken usually hung out at since he lived on the 
other side, closer to the other mall.  "How do you know Ken?"
    Andrew smiled and paused to give change to a few customers.  
"He's been here with you a few times.  I've seen him.  But he 
doesn't come here often, does he? What's wrong, he doesn't like 
games?"
    [Not like games?!  Ken?!]  Lita wondered.  She shook her head 
fiercely. "Oh, he loves video games.  Almost more than Serena does. 
But he doesn't live around here.  He mostly goes to the Round Table 
Arcade at the West Mall."
    "Oh, I see."  
    "How is Rita, by the way?"  Lita asked.
    "She's great.  She's home for the summer.  In fact, tonight, 
we're going to watch the ballet on ice. She loves those kinds of 
stuff."  Andrew boasted.
    "That's wonderful.  It's a wonder how you guys can keep such a 
long distance relationship."  
    Andrew laughed and put his hands on the back of his head.  
"Well, you know what they say:  Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
    "Not in all cases."  Lita reminded him.
    "Just between you and me,"  Andrew leaned in to tell her 
something as if it were strictly confidential.  "I'd keep a leash 
around your boyfriend if you bring him around here again. He's a 
pretty handsome fellow-"
    "Andrew!"  Lita frowned and started to chastise him.  "Don't go 
around checking out-"
    Blushing, Andrew quickly cleared up his meaning. "No, I don't 
mean it that way.  All I meant was that I heard a couple of the 
girls talking around here.  You know how gossip is.  There are a 
couple of eyes on Ken."
    Lita gulped, "Oh, didn't mean to offend you.  But thanks for 
telling me. I'm not worried though."
    Andrew arched an eyebrow, "Oh really?"
    "Nope, not one bit."  Lita assured him.
    "Oh, it's almost one. I have a lunch break, care to join?"  
Andrew offered.
    "Almost one?"  Lita checked her watch and did a double take. She 
didn't realize she had been here for so long, and she hadn't even 
stopped to play a game.  "Sorry, Andrew. Gotta meet Mina at the park 
to play volleyball.  Nice chattin' with you. See you. Bye."  
    In a blur, Lita was out the Arcade and halfway to the park.
    "Very strange girl,"  Andrew said to himself.
    "Yoo hoo! Andrew!"  A female voice called to him.  He sighed and 
turned.  Yup, another one of those girls with their love sick eyes 
and puppy love crushes on him. 


    "Game point, serving!"  Mina shouted as she threw the ball up 
for a serve. If they gained this point, they would have won the 
match.  
    There were two teams. Serena, Rei, and Ami were on one team, 
and Lita and Mina were on another.  Everyone was nice and sweaty by 
then from the strenuous exercise of volleyball.
    Mina hit the ball with a loud slap over the net straight at 
Serena.  Luckily, although Serena didn't think so, the ball bounced 
right off her head and to Rei. Rei spiked it over and it would have 
been a good one if Lita hadn't dived and saved it.  This time, Mina 
spiked it over and bam, it hit the ground.
    "Looks like we won,"  Mina said, holding the volleyball under 
her arm.
    "Unfair advantage!"  Serena whined.  "You guys always win!"
    "But you guys have one more person on your team,"  Lita reminded.
    "No fair.  Lita is taller and Mina's a pro."  For once, Rei 
agreed with Serena about the unfair advantage.
    Mina smiled, "You guys, it's just a game. It's no big deal."
    "She's right.  I wish you all would be as competitive in school 
as you are in these games."  Ami told them.
    Lita sighed and patted Ami on the back.  "Ames, sometimes, you 
really have to stop thinking about school. It's not healthy."
    "Don't you see that school determines our future?  If we...."  
Ami started to drone on and on again.
    The girls decided it was getting kind of late and Serena was 
getting kind of hungry, so they went off their separate ways.
    "Sorry Ami, can't stay for another lecture."  Lita said as she 
left.  "I'll go see if Ken's home yet. He should be home by now."
    Ami understood and started walking home with Mina since they had 
the same route home. The bickering which could only come from Serena 
and Rei faded as the two girls walked off.
    

    Ken picked up the football and threw it at his friend.  It made 
a nice spiral and went straight as could be.  Leo caught it and 
threw it back. The two guys went like that for almost an hour, never 
getting tired, and talking about nothing in particular.
    "Hey, Ken. Remember what you asked me before you left for that 
trip?"  Leo questioned after throwing the ball.
    "About keeping an eye on Lita?"  Ken remembered.
    "Yeah."
    "What about it?"
    "It was nice of you to do it."
    "Well, it's good that my two good friends get along so well."  
Ken replied. Some nagging feeling was implanted in his head, but he 
couldn't exactly tell what it was.
    "You're a lucky man."  Leo said.  He threw the football again, 
but it ended up a little harder than he thought and he almost 
knocked Ken's head off his shoulders.
    "What do you mean?"  This was it, Ken thought.  This isn't going 
to be good.
    "She's real nice."
    Ken dropped the ball he was about to throw.  "What do you mean?  
You didn't do something to her, did you?"
    "No, of course not. I'm a perfect gentleman."
    "Ok."
    For some reason, Leo felt really angry at Ken.  Maybe it was 
jealousy, or maybe it was from all those stored up anger from so 
many times before all added together.  "She kisses real nice."
    Ken stopped and looked cautiously at his friend.  "What?!"
    "She's a good kisser."  Leo repeated.  He could see something 
building in Ken's eyes.  He liked how worked up Ken was getting.
    "You kissed her?!"
    "Well, you _did_ say I could date her, right?"  He pointed out. 
    "But you kissed her?!"
    "Hey, you're the one who told me to date her."
    "Did I?  I didn't say that. I told you to take her out a couple 
of times, keep an eye out for her.  I never told you to kiss her!"  
Ken repeated in rage.
    "Oh well, it just happened."  Leo said non-chalantly.
    Now, Ken was almost five feet away from Leo.  He had been 
walking closer and closer every second.  "Did you do anything else?"
    Leo smirked, "I dunno.  I'm not the type to kiss and tell, you 
know."
    That was it.  Ken sprung forward and knocked Leo down on the 
grass.  Once on the grass, the two guys rolled around, swinging 
poorly aimed punches at each other in fury.


    Lita walked down Ken's block.  He was probably home by then.  
And since it was Saturday, he was also probably playing football or 
basketball with Leo.  She remembered Leo.  She remembered the last 
time he spoke to him...


    They had been walking around the West Mall for maybe ages 
already.  Lita and Ken stopped at the food court to rest their feet 
and to unload their packages, although it was mainly Lita's packages.
    "Hey look, it's Leo."  Ken pointed to a familiar boy in a blue 
cap and blue jacket wandering around the food court with a shopping 
bag in one hand.  Ken waved over to him and told him to join them.
    "Hi,"  Leo said as soon as he reached the couple.  He looked at 
Ken and gave him a hand slap. Then, his eyes lingered on Lita, then 
shifted away.
    Ken teased, "I didn't think you were the kind who liked shopping 
malls."
    Leo blushed, "It's mom's birthday.  I just got her a scarf, 
that's all."
    "That's nice of you,"  Lita told him. She still felt kind of 
uncomfortable around him after the incident that summer.
    Suddenly, Ken started walking away.  "I'm gonna go get us 
something to eat.  I'm starving."
    "Just some fries for me,"  Lita called after him.
    "Nothing for me. I'm leaving soon."  Leo also called.
    Left alone, Lita didn't know what to say to Leo.  He sat down 
across from her.  The two of them didn't say anything at first.
    Finally, Leo broke the silence.  "You know, no matter how hard I 
try, I can't find anyone else like you."
    She was afraid of this.  "There are much better girls you can 
get than me. I'm no princess, trust me."
    "I know that. That's why I like you so much. You're not fake 
like some of the other girls.  You're so down to Earth."  Leo said, 
his eyes boring into hers.
    "Leo, this isn't going to work.  Some things are better left 
alone."  Lita didn't know why she said that.  It made totally no 
sense to her.
    "You know I'll always be here, okay?"  Leo said and stood up.  
His eyes were painfully clear.
    "Goodbye,"  Lita said with such feeling it had more meaning than 
a whole book.
    "Goodbye,"  he echoed and walked away a little less bouncier 
than before.
    Ken came back with a tray of fries and a burger.  "Where did Leo 
go?"
    "He left."
    "Anything wrong?"  Ken asked.  
    Lita was surprised how tuned in he was to her vibes. Any slight 
disturbance and he knew.  "No, nothing wrong."

		                ********

    Glancing up from her reverie, Lita saw two boys wrestling on the 
grass. She did a double take and noticed they were on Ken's lawn, 
and one of them was Ken.  A second later, she recognized the second 
boy was Leo.
    "You two, stop it!" Lita shouted as soon as she saw they weren't 
playing around.
    "Stay out of this!" Leo shouted to her although he hadn't even 
registered in his mind who it was who yelled.
    Lita circled around the violent guys, trying to look for a way 
to break them up.  At first, she caught hold of someone's leg and 
tried to pull them out, but that only succeeded in moving both guys 
closer to her.
    "Break it up!"  Lita screamed to them.
    "This isn't your business, Lita."  Ken said before getting a 
punch in the jaw. 
    Seeing this wasn't going to stop with talking, Lita jumped right 
into the fight and pulled someone's shirt collar.  Just as she 
hoped, she pulled Ken's and proceeded to yank him violently away 
from Leo.  When finally, she had him untangled, but still angry, she 
glared at him.
    Leo was sitting on the grass, mad dogging Ken, challenging to 
take him on again.
    "Let go, Lita!  I'm going to give him what he deserves."  Ken 
demanded, struggling to break free of the fierce grip Lita had on 
his arm now.
    All of a sudden, Lita slapped him clear across the face.  Ken 
stopped struggling and rubbed his cheek, looking at awe at Lita.
    "I'm sorry I had to do that. But get a hold of yourself."  She 
answered his questioning eyes.
    "Yeah, get a hold of yourself, Ken."  Leo taunted.
    "You too!"  Lita pointed a finger at him.  "What the hell is up 
with you guys?  You're best friends for heaven's sakes.  You guys 
aren't supposed to go at each other like opposites from a gang."
    The two guys still glared at each other like snarling dogs.
    "Tell me, what are you guys fighting about?  If this is going to 
be about a stupid game someone won, or-"  Lita stopped as she caught 
the glance the two guys gave each other.
    "You want to know what it's about?"  Leo asked, his voice 
starting to drip with as much malice as he was shooting at Ken.
    "It's about you."  Ken continued.
    Finally, Lita let go of Ken.  She sighed and shook her head.  
"I'm not worth fighting over.  I'm not worth destroying a friendship 
over."
    "But-" both guys started.
    "No buts,"  Lita put a hand up.  "I give up.  I don't want to 
fight any of this anymore.  If you didn't know, yes, I did like Leo 
for a time in summer, yes we did kiss, yes I did feel something, but 
no, I don't think we'll get into any type of serious relationship."
    Ken looked at her with a blank expression and then looked down.  
All the malice seemed to have left Leo and now, he just stood there 
like an empty shell.
    "I trust that both of you are mature enough so I can trust you 
to talk it out. Call me, you know where I'll be."  Lita turned and 
started to jog to the bus stop. She wasn't ready to confront any 
questions. She wanted to think about them first before any questions.


	Back at her apartment, Lita flopped onto the couch. She 
didn't care that she was hot and sticky, in need of a cold shower 
after the game of volleyball, splitting the guys' fight up, and 
running to catch the ball.  She was too emotionally tired to care.
    Lita reached over and clicked the television on, hoping that the 
nonsense droning of the set could drown out the thoughts flooded in 
her mind. She couldn't think right then with the puddle that used to 
be nice and orderly in her mind.
    The phone rang, but she left it ringing for the machine in her 
bedroom to pick up the call.  From the open bedroom door, she heard 
the answering machine's greeting, the signal beep, and the annoying 
click that told her whoever had called didn't leave a message and 
instead hung up.
    "Well go ahead, you dirty bastard.  Don't leave a message." Lita 
shouted at the machine.  That crude remark had an unusual calming 
effect on her.   She felt better after she let out the verbal abuse, 
even if it was to her answering machine.
    Deciding that the odor of sweat was too much to bear,  Lita went 
to shower. The cold water, besides physically calming her down also 
soothed everything inside. She could think in clear, rational 
complete thoughts now instead of the broken chain before.
    To her surprise upon stepping out of the shower with only a 
towel around herself, she saw Ken sitting there on the sofa reading 
a magazine.  She took the time to scrutinize him before he noticed 
he was being watched.  The scene looked usual enough, as if it was 
any typical day.
    "Are you enjoying what you see?"  Ken asked without looking up 
from his magazine.
    Lita's face flamed red as she walked  past, clutching the towel 
and disappearing into her bedroom.  Five minutes later, she came out 
in a T-shirt and men's boxers.  "What are you doing here?  I thought 
you'd be still fighting."
    Ken put the magazine down on the neat stack at the corner of the 
coffee table. He did with such carefulness that Lita wanted to shout 
at him to hurry up, but as soon as he looked at her with those dark 
blue eyes of his, she felt all anger whatsoever melt away.
    "I called, but your machine picked up, so I was worried."
    "Why do you always have this urge to protect me?  I can take 
care of myself you know."  Lita insisted. She didn't mean it to come 
out so defensively.
    In Ken's eyes, she saw that she had stabbed him, but tried to 
ignore it.  He merely said, "I know that.  I can't help it.  You can 
take care of yourself. You've already shown me that you're capable 
of it... during the summer I was away."
    "You're disappointed in me, aren't you?"  Lita asked.
    Ken cocked his head to one side. It was a simple gesture, but it 
tugged at the corner of Lita's heart.  He looked so much like a 
puppy searching for approval.  "Why would I be?"
    "Because of what happened between me and Leo."
    He leaned forward and interlocked his hands, watching them for a 
while with unfocused eyes.  "What exactly happened between you and 
him?"   
    "I guess I fell for him,"  she said truthfully.
    Ken could feel the pain pulling at him, paired together with the 
pain of guilt also pulling from the other side.  "I haven't been 
entirely honest either."
    "There was someone you met in the summer, wasn't there?"  Her 
voice was monotonous, but her eyes said more.
    Ken nodded.
    "Tell me about her,"  she whispered.
    "She looked like you.  Sometimes, I'd pretend she was you."  he 
simply said.
    Somehow, Lita felt flattered.  She did feel a tad bad about the 
girl who would have come in short, but still, she was flattered.  
"That wasn't right Ken."    
    "What wasn't right?  Having feelings for another or the fact 
that I pretended she was you?"
    "Pretending that she was someone else. If you love someone, it's 
because of who they are, not who you can pretend they are."  Lita 
said as if she were an oracle.
    "I know that now, but not then."
    Letting out a deep sigh, Lita looked at him questioningly, 
"Where do we go from here?"
    On the wall, the clock ticked it's hypnotizing rhythm as the 
couple sat there thinking.  Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, and it 
got louder and louder 'til it drowned out all other sounds.
    "I'll understand it if you want to break up,"  Ken finally said 
firmly.
    Although since Ken came back, they hadn't officially "got 
together", it was a known fact.  Lita drew her lips in a tight 
line.  "It's not that easy.  Besides, I don't want to. Do you?"
    He offered a feeble smile, "Me neither."
    "Serena and Darien had plenty of ups and downs in their 
relationship."  Lita reminded him, or rather, assured herself.  She 
started to rock back and forth by herself on the couch, a habit that 
came back once in a while.  She knew why she kept doing that.  
After all, when there wasn't anyone to rock you, you'd learn to do it 
yourself.  When there wasn't anyone to comfort you, you'd learn it 
yourself.
    So back and forth Lita's body swayed as she thought idly about 
nothing at all.  Recently, it had been hard to focus her mind on 
anything. Perhaps it was because of the long summer, she was even 
worried that she'd forget how to think when school started.
    Seeing Lita rocking herself, Ken reached out and pulled her into 
his arms and rocked her.  It was a simple friendly gesture that 
meant the world to her.  
    "No matter what,"  Lita whispered, looking like she was in a 
dream.  "I want you to know whatever happens between us, you're 
still my best friend."
    "Back to you,"  Ken offered and planted a kiss on her forehead.

    
    Three days later, they were no longer sitting on the couch, but 
rather running for their lives.  All five scouts were there with two 
cats, and two men.
    "In the name of the Moon, I shall punish you!"  Sailor Moon 
shouted to today's youma.  
    "According to my calculations, the youmas are increasing in mass 
each time we encounter them.  Last time's youma was exactly three 
hundred forty-two point six-one-three-seven-five..."  Sailor Mercury 
quoted from her mini-computer.
    "No time for math!"  Sailor Venus shouted.
    "Yes, plain English please?!"  Jupiter Knight asked as he ran 
past, being chased by a couple of fast fireballs.
    "They're getting bigger and smarter,"  Sailor Mercury explained 
in layman's terms.
    Sailor Mars jumped down from a tree she had been perched on.  
She took Mercury's mini-computer and threw it into her 
interdimensional pocket.  "I could have told you that if you asked. 
Really, Mercury, this is no time to do math."
    "But-" Sailor Mercury was about to reach for her computer when 
Sailor Mars stopped her.
    "Big problem, straight ahead!"  Sailor Jupiter shouted as the 
large fiery object loomed above them.  
    Today's youma was about a seven foot fiery figure.  It was hard 
to tell exactly what it was made of beneath the burning exterior, 
but one thing was for sure, it was highly dangerous and incredibly 
flammable.
    "Oh man, my cape!"  Tuxedo Mask groaned as he beat off some fire 
on the end of his charred cape.
    "I'll get you a new one,"  Jupiter Knight offered. "I know of 
this great little shop that sells them for half off if you mention 
that-"
    "Quit chit-chatting and beat it!"  A big cloud of scouts all 
running past thing shouted.  Under any another condition, it would 
have been funny looking to see a gray cloud running past with 
various body parts, arms, legs, tiaras all sticking out.
    Since there was no time to run, the two caped men dove to the 
ground, barely missing a barrage of fireballs heading their way.
    "By scientific proof, three elements make fire:  heat, oxygen, 
and something that burns."  Sailor Mercury thought out loud as they 
stopped to catch their breath.  It was true the youmas were getting 
smarter.  The youmas no longer chased them for energy, but kind of 
terrorized humans to make them produce more energy to collect.
    "But we don't know what the hell is burning in there,"  Sailor 
Jupiter pointed to the fiery figure.
    "My attack is useless against it,"  Sailor Mars reminded.  
Fighting fire with fire wasn't working.
    "So if we take away one of the elements that make fire, then the 
fire will be gone."  Sailor Mercury concluded.
    "If there's no oxygen, we'll die." Tuxedo Mask added, joining 
the group.
    "Last thing to do is take away the heat,"  Jupiter Knight 
suggested.
    Sailor Mercury nodded.  She started to go toward the fire 
youma.  "Cover me, I'm going in."
    "Create a diversion,"  Sailor Mars instructed.
    All the scouts split up in a large circle around the youma and 
started taunting it.
    "Hey, you overgrown barbecue!"  Sailor Venus shouted.
    "Yeah, we're talking to you, buster!"  Sailor Jupiter affirmed 
when the youma looked her way.
    "Mercury ice bubbles blast!"  Sailor Mercury shouted as soon as 
the youma's back was to her.  As she predicted, that put the fire 
out, but didn't destroy the youma.
    "Sailor Moon, now!"  Tuxedo Mask shouted to her.
    Once again, the Moon Scepter appeared from no where.  "Moon 
Scepter-"  before she could complete it, the youma bounded out of 
range.
    Suddenly, Jupiter Knight burst out laughing.  "Did you see 
that?!"
    "What?"  The other asked.
    "It's nothing but an overgrown scarecrow!"  He howled with 
laughter.
    "This is no laughing matter,"  Luna's voice called from the top
of a branch.  "Someone should really go after it before it does any 
harm."
    "You're right, sorry about that." Jupiter Knight calmed down a 
little, but was unable to wipe the grin off his face.  "I'll go 
after him."
    They watched as Jupiter Knight bounded after the scarecrow while 
singing, "If I only had a brain."
    "We should follow him. We're not sure how dangerous the 
scarecrow could be."  Sailor Moon advised and they followed.
    They stopped at a clearing where the scarecrow and Jupiter 
Knight were apparently dueling it off.  It was a hilarious scene.  
Jupiter Knight with his sword out fighting a scarecrow with a broom. 
It was almost certain who would win.
    Like most certain things though, the certainty didn't work.  
Jupiter Knight launched forward to swing at the scarecrow, but was 
quickly intercepted as the scarecrow, with super-human speed leapt 
out of the way and struck him in the back with broom.  A loud 
clatter followed as Jupiter Knight's sword landed on top of a large 
boulder.
    "Oh man, get me the number of that truck,"  Jupiter Knight 
groaned.
    "Mars Fire-" Sailor Mars started her attack, but Tuxedo Mask 
stopped her.
    "Don't. You might get the fire going again."  He told her.
    Sailor Moon stepped forward, "I'll take care of this!  Moon 
Scepter, Eliminat-"  
    All she needed was another syllable, but just as it was to be 
uttered, the scarecrow shot some razor sharp straw at her, nailing 
her to a tree behind her.
    In that time, Sailor Jupiter was able to run over to Jupiter 
Knight's sword, seeing that he was in no shape to do anything.   She 
raised it above her head and swung down with a poorly aimed chop.  
Although it didn't hit the intended spot, it did a little damage.  A 
a "thunk", the left arm of the scarecrow fell.
    "Jupiter Thunder Crash!"  Sailor Jupiter shouted and pointed the 
tip of the sword to the still moving arm.  She hadn't counted on the 
surge of electricity pulsating down her arms and to the sword, 
making it shake uncontrollably.  She succeeded in electrocuting the 
arm to a crisp, but also almost doing her fellow scouts in as the 
sword shook with power.
    "I'll take it from here!"  Sailor Moon insisted, emerging from 
behind a tree once she saw the coast was clear from Sailor Jupiter's 
lack of skill with the sword.
    "Moon Scepter Elimination!" She shouted in a hurry, not wanted 
to be interrupted again.  
    The third time was a charm and the youma disintegrated into a 
pile of dust.  Sailor Mercury stooped down to take a sample of the 
dust into a little beaker for future studies.
    Sailor Jupiter helped Jupiter Knight up, handing him the sword.  
He rubbed his head painfully and said, "I don't know what's a worse 
way to go.  Killed by a youma or being struck by your lightning."
    The other nodded.
    "So what, it was my first time with that."  Lita said, now 
detransformed and pointing to the large sword.  "I didn't know it 
was going to be so shaky."
    "Have you noticed how the youma attacks are always here?"  Ami 
changed the subject.
    They all looked around the park, then at themselves. 
    "Now that you mentioned it, it has been kind of odd."  Rei 
agreed.
    "Let's save it for the next scout meeting.  I'm getting hungry.  
Bye." With that, Serena stormed off in a blur of blonde toward the 
bakery.


	Sure enough, during the next scout meeting, held on a Monday
night, that was the topic of the day.  As usual, they were all
sprawled on the floor in a relaxed manner, but this time, they were
in Rei's room.
	"Are you sure it's safe to talk about this?  Isn't Chad or
your grandfather around?"  Serena asked.
	"Chad went with grampa to the Shinto exhibition across town. 
They won't be back 'til tomorrow since their hotel rooms will be pre
paid by some big company or whatever."  Rei said for the third time.
	"Are you sure?"  Serena asked again.
	"Yes!  Quit asking that."  Rei shouted.
	"Well, you could never be too careful," Serena stuffed a
muffin in her mouth.
	Rei's eyes lit up as if she had a new thought.  "Speaking of
careful, how about being careful of your calories? The way you stuff
your face like that you might have a heart attack any minute."
	"Rei, you're so mean!"  Serena cried and started to break
down in tears.
	Ami put her down and sighed, "You two, stop it.  We're not
here to listen to your bickering."
	Rei and Serena quieted down, but still glared at each other,
occasionally sticking their tongues out when they thought the other
wasn't looking.
	"Any new discoveries on why the attacks are so frequent at
the park?"  Lita changed the subject.
	"Well, it might be because that's a public place and there's
plenty of people there out in the open during certain times."  Luna
suggested.
	"But you said during certain times.  Why not pick somewhere
like the mall or the subway station?  There's always too much people
there at any given time.  Why would the youmas only attack the park
when there are so many other places with more people?"  Mina
countered.
	Everyone scratched their head at that.  
	"Well," Ken started saying, "It _is_ the exact midpoint of
east and west Tokyo..."
	"...which means that the park is the exact center of Tokyo." 
Lita concluded.
	"So? What does that have to do with it?"  Serena asked.
	"Wait a minute!"  Artemis, who was usually sleeping during
these meetings shouted.  "Crystal Tokyo in the future is located in
the exact center of Tokyo also!"
	"I know,"  Serena said and everyone could practically see the
light bulb go on in her head.  "The youmas must know about Crystal
Tokyo, so they want to destroy everything in the site of it so that
in the future, we won't build a city on it?"
	Everyone bowed their heads in shame.  All those years of
scout training and Serena still didn't understand.
	"You're kind of on the right track,"  Darien offered so she
wouldn't feel too bad.
	"There must be some connection between Crystal Tokyo, the
center of town, and the youma attacks."  Luna replied thoughtfully.
	Lita put her tea cup down after a sip.  "Sorry about the
downer guys, but we don't know a whole lot about Crystal Tokyo."
	"But we know someone who does,"  Rei reminded.
	"Reenie?!  Reenie isn't exactly here anymore.  I'm not going
let her stay at my house again! She's a little spore!"  Serena
started whining.
	"Relax, Serena.  We're not talking about Reenie.  We need
someone who's older and knows more about the history of Crystal
Tokyo."  Ami explained.
	"And who better to ask than Setsuna?"  Mina agreed.
	"How exactly do we find her?  I don't think she has a Setsuna
Hotline or something that we can contact her with."  Lita asked.
	"That's a good idea. I think we should suggest that to her
next time we see her."  Rei said thoughtfully.
	"Wait a minute, we still have that problem of finding her.
How do we know she's not in that little Time Dimension place that
she's sometimes in?"  Ken reminded.
	"It's known as the Time Gate."  Luna told him.
	"Yeah, how do we know she's not there?  If she is, it'll be
impossible to find her."  Ken repeated.
	Ami cleared her throat and everyone hushed up, knowing she
was about to say something significant.  "It would be easier to ask
either Haruka or Michiru of where she is since they are more familiar
with her.  They are easier to locate.  I say tomorrow afternoon, we
split up.  Half will go to the race track because that's where Haruka
would be, and the remaining half should go to the Music Hall because
I heard that Michiru would be playing there."
	Everyone cheered at the fantastic plan Ami cooked up.
	When the cheering died down, Rei asked, "Wait, why tomorrow
afternoon? Shouldn't we start early?"
	This time, Luna cleared her throat, "Actually, tomorrow
morning, we will all meet here at 6 am sharp."
	"Why?  I'm afraid to ask,"  Serena questioned.
	"To get some extra practice in. With grandpa and Chad out of
the way, we can make use of the many dummies, trees, and decoys out
here so we'll be better prepared to fight _if_ our powers fail."  Rei
told everyone.  Luna had already asked her permission and filled her
in on why they should practice at the temple.
	"What do you mean 'if' our powers fail?"  Mina had a
horrified expression on her face.
	"Just a precaution we should take."  Luna explained.
	Darien stood up, "It's getting late and if I don't take
Serena home right now, her dad will shoot me."
	They glanced at the clock and agreed.  It was half past ten. 
Darien and Serena started to leave.  Before exiting the door, Darien
suggested, "Lita, tomorrow at the practice, maybe you should practice
a little with Ken's sword.  I don't want it to back fire on us."
	Lita blushed, remember the day before when she almost injured
the rest of the group.  "Good idea."
	"Not as easy as it looks huh?"  Ken grinned.
	Lita playfully punched him in the arm, "Hey, nothing from you
wise guy."
	"Looks like this meeting is officially over."  Luna
concluded, following Serena out the door.
	"Ok, everyone back here at 6 am sharp."  Rei reminded.
	The rest of the group dispersed as well, going their separate
way.  Ami, Mina and Lita started home together, since they lived in
generally the same direction.
	"Wait for me,"  Ken called to them and caught up with them.
	"What are you doing here?  You live that way,"  Lita pointed
to the direction opposite where they were walking.
	"I'll walk you guys home,"  he offered.
	"That's okay.  We don't need protection."  Mina said.
	"Same here," Lita agreed.
	Ami nodded also, "We are capable of handling the walk home
ourselves."
	"But we need to talk,"  Ken said, holding onto Lita's arm. 
	Lita looked at the contact, then at Ami and Mina.  She sighed
and nodded, "You guys go on without me.  There's some things I have
to do."
	"Are you sure?"  Mina asked, her wide blue eyes shifting
between Lita and Ken.
	"Yes.  Goodnight Mina, Ami."  Lita said and waved as the
girls walked off in front of them, in a rush to go home and get some
rush.


	"I wonder what's wrong with her,"  Ami said thoughtfully as
they got closer to her condo.
	"She told me that she and Ken were having a couple of
problems."  Mina offered and shrugged, "I guess it's normal. 
Remember how Darien and Serena used to be?"
	Ami laughed, "Oh yeah."
	"Bye Ami,"  Mina said as Ami walked into her condo.
	"Goodnight Mina,"  Ami said and opened the door to go in. 
From inside, she looked as Mina walked  a block away.  It was easy
for her to see everything going on down the street since her room was
on the third story.  She made sure Mina got home safe to her
apartment a block and a half away before taking out her journal to
write in it.

	
	"What did you want to talk about?"  Lita asked, stopping
completely on the sidewalk.
	They were under a lamplight which was attracting hundreds of
fireflies from everywhere.  The small creatures danced in the night
with their own dream like patterns around the two figures.
	"Are you still angry about the other day?  When I got into
the fight with Leo?"  Ken asked after forcing his eyes away from the
dancing bright lights.
	"Did you apologize to him?"  she asked.
	He nodded.
	"I feel bad for making the two of you fight against each
other, I guess."  Lita replied.
	"It wasn't your fault.  It happens all the time.  Me and Leo,
we have like a thousand fights but we're better friends after it." 
Ken assured her.
	"He called me and apologized for the way the both of you were
acting."  She told him.
	"That was nice him."  Ken mumbled.
	"That's not what's on your mind is it?"  Lita observed.
	"No."
	"What is, then?"
	Ken shrugged, "I just wanted to remind you that your duty is
to protect Sailor Moon."
	"I don't need to be reminded of that,"  Lita said quietly.
	"I know. But yesterday, when I was down you wanted to save
me."  He told her.
	"Yeah, so what?"
	"If there comes a situation where you have to choose between
saving me or Sailor Moon, you know what decision you have to make,
don't you?"  Ken asked in almost a whisper.
	"Sailor Moon,"  Lita said equally as soft.
	"So you understand?"
	"Yes,"  Lita sighed.  "Serena is wonderful.  I'd be happy to
save her. But I hope there will never be a situation where I have to
choose between the two of you."
	"Me neither,"  Ken said and pulled her close to him.
	They stood there in the glow of the lamp light with small
fire flies that looked like fairy dust swirling around them.  Ken
took her head in his hands and ran his fingers along her soft cheeks.
Lita leaned forward to plant her lips on his.  As soon as contact was
made, she felt the warm feeling spread through her and null any pain
she felt emotionally and physically.
	Together like that, neither cared where they were.  They
didn't need to breathe, they didn't need to eat.  They were content
living off each other's love.	
	Breaking the magic moment, a car drove by slowly.  An old man
leaned out the window with a look of disapproval on his face.  "Hey
you kids!  Go rent a room or something!  Show some manners!"
	Lita and Ken separated quickly.  Both blushed so that it
could have been seen in any darkness.
	"S-s-sorry,"  Lita stuttered, embarrassed for herself and Ken.
	"Kids these days.  When I was young...."  the old driver
muttered as he drove away.
	"Good night, Ken."  Lita shouted happily and turned to run
the rest of the way home.
	"Good night,"  Ken echoed and started to walk for his bus
stop.
	
		     LadyJupiter@SailorJupiter.com
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