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
Kevin for reviewing

__________________________________________________
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Remember When?  (8)
Vengeance
Lady Jupiter (LadyJupiter@SailorJupiter.com)

    

    "Muffin, do you love me?"  Serena asked, hugging one of 
Darien's arms.
    With his free hand, Darien turned the page in his book and 
pushed his glasses higher.  "Yeah, sure."  He answered methodically.
    Suddenly, Serena let go and slid farther away from him on the 
park bench.  Her eyes got large and tears started forming.  Before 
Darien could stop it, it started to rain.  Buckets and buckets of 
water poured from the petite blonde.
    "No, wait, Serena!   What?!"  Darien stuttered, trying to get 
her to stop.  He was so preoccupied with pacifying her that he 
didn't notice the occasional strange glance from some passers by.
    Serena continued to bawl.  "You never pay any attention to me!  
Are you tired of me or something?  *sniff*  You're always reading 
that book!  Am I so boring that you find the book better?  Wahhhhhh!"
    "No, oh no, of course not Serena!"  Darien insisted, throwing 
the book down to make his point.  "You're the most important thing 
in my  life, not that book."
    "So *sniff* why do you always read it?"  Her bawling had stopped 
as if she could turn it on and off like a water faucet.
    Darien took her in his arms and assured her, "It's not because 
you're boring.  I have to finish reading it by this week so I can 
start on my thesis on the topic of the book."
    "I understand," Serena said solemnly, then quickly brightened 
up, "Hey, how about you take me to the ice-cream parlor and you can 
read there while I eat?"
    Darien smiled and nodded.  That was a good plan.  Putting a 
double scoop sundae in front of Serena would give him enough time to 
finish about another chapter or two while she ate.  There was only 
one obstacle that prevented that plan to happen.  "Oh, but we're 
supposed to be watching the park, like Luna said.  It's our shift 
and it wouldn't be right if we just left."
    True, they had been sitting here for about two hours already, 
monitoring the park, since they knew now that it was a highly 
volatile location.  Surprisingly, nothing happened yet.  Although 
they had remained sitting on the bench the whole time, they knew 
nothing was happening in any other part of the park.  If something 
_was_ happening, they would have been able to hear the screams a 
mile away, not to mention Luna and Artemis, who were roaming around 
as usual.
    "That's okay," Serena waved it off, "Lita told me that she and 
Ken would be here today anyway.  We can go find them and ask if 
they'll take this shift for us."
    "But I don't think it'll be fair for them. Then it'll be like 
them taking two shifts."
    "Don't worry, Lita won't mind. I mean, they're here anyway, so 
it wouldn't be putting anyone out of their way."  
    "Okay, if you say so." Darien bent over to pick up his fallen 
book.  "Where are they? This park isn't exactly your back yard."
    "I think I have an idea about where they are," Serena said with 
a knowing smile.  She quickly pulled Darien towards her intended 
direction.
    Serena was sure of the general location of where Lita would be, 
but wasn't sure where _exactly_ she was.  They stopped, facing the 
lake and took a look around.
    "I was sure they'd be here somewhere," Serena mused and 
scratched her head.
    "Are you positive that Lita said she'd be here this day?  Sure 
she didn't say yesterday or tomorrow?"  Darien asked.
    "No, she said today. I remember, we were talking on the phone 
and she mentioned it."  Serena replied.
    Abruptly, they heard giggling.  Very familiar giggling.  Both 
Darien and Serena turned their head in every direction, trying to 
locate where the giggling was coming from.  Darien did an about 
face and peered through a large wall of bushes.  That was where the 
giggling was coming from.
    "How did they get in there?"  Darien asked.  Lita and Ken were 
enclosed in a fortress of greenery.  The tall bush made a large wall 
around them with no way in.  Where Darien thought he found a way in, 
there were only trees and more bush.
    "Hey, Lita!"  Serena called and stuck her head in through a hole 
in the bush.  Surprisingly, her head fit in quite snugly.
    Lita turned around, and as she did, the butterfly perched on her 
nose fluttered away to sit on a leaf.  She looked over her shoulder 
at Serena.  "Hi Serena, what's up?"
    "Nothing.  Hi Ken,"  Serena noticed Ken sitting on grass a 
couple of yards from Lita, behind an easel and holding a paint brush.
    From where she was lying on her stomach, Lita replied, "Don't 
bother, he won't hear you. He's gone, if you know what I mean."
    "Oh,"  Serena nodded, which wasn't as easy as it sounded with 
all the leaves scratching at her neck.
    "Hi Lita,"  Darien's voice carried over.
    "Hi Darien,"  Lita shouted back.
    "Can I ask you guys a favor?"  Serena asked.
    "Sure, anything."
    "Would you mind watching the park for us?  We want to go get 
some ice-cream.  Rei, Mina, and Ami will come in an hour or two to 
take it from there."  Serena told her.
    "Yeah, of course.  We're here anyway, there's no bother. Right 
Ken?"  Lita asked, not really expecting a reply.
    "Ok, thanks Lita." Serena beamed, "We owe you one."
    "No problem,"  she replied.
    "I'll tell Mina and the others where to find you guys to let you 
know they're here."  Serena assured her.
    "Okay, have fun with the ice-cream."  Lita said and turned back 
to her original position.  "Bye."
    "Bye, Lita."  Serena said and got out of the bush.  Or at least 
tried to.  With some help from Darien, she succeeded in getting her 
head out of the hole in the bush, which seemed to grow smaller than 
it first was.
    
    "I'm finished!"  Ken exclaimed and put his paintbrush down.  He 
wiped the bit of paint on his fingers onto a rag and for the first 
time in two hours looked somewhere besides the easel and the scenery 
of the lake he was painting.
    To his surprise, he saw a sleeping Lita on the pink blanket that 
was spread out under her.  He smiled softly and crawled on his knees 
towards her, trying not to make a sound.  Fortunately, they were in 
the shade and Lita wasn't sunburned.  He moved his head closer to 
hers so that their eyes were perfectly aligned.
    "Lita,"  he whispered.
    No answer.
    "Lita,"  he whispered a little louder.
    Still no answer.
    "Liiiiitaaaa," he said now in his normal voice.
    Her eyes opened slowly.  Lita realized she was staring up not at 
the sky, like she was before falling asleep, but at a darker, deeper 
blue.  Her first thought, while looking at that rich color was that 
she had overslept and it was nighttime. Then, the blue blinked.  
That's when it hit her that she was gazing right into Ken's eyes.  
She smiled at the upside down image of Ken.
    "Wake up, sunshine."  He grinned.
    Lita got up and stretched her arms, "Don't ever call me that or 
I'll make sure you'll never even remember what sunshine looked like."
    Ken laughed at the threat.  Then, he said more quietly, 
"Sunshine looks like you when you smile."
    Her heart melted that moment.  She could have sworn her body 
turned into jello.  With a smile, he pulled her to him and kissed her 
softly.  They didn't get far when they heard Rei's chattering 
coming closer.   Reluctantly, they separated as the voices came 
closer.  Now, Mina's voice was as distinct as Rei's.  They were 
talking about a new dress.
    Lita was sure Ami was with them, even if she didn't hear her 
voice.  She could barely pick up the sound of pages turning.  Yup, 
Ami was with them alright.
    "Where did Serena say they were again?"  Mina pondered.
    Rei said something inaudible and both started to giggle.
    "What did you say, Rei?"  Lita asked, scaring the three girls 
out of their shoes.
    "I-she-, uh....I-"  Rei stammered, trying to regain her 
composure from being nearly scared to death.  When finally, her 
beating heart slowed down, she said, "You sure surprised us."
    Mina, after looking around confusedly asked.  "Is it just me, or 
did Lita's voice come out of no where?"
    Two figures emerged from the bushes.  The plants seemed to part 
themselves to let the two of them out.  
    "Hi guys!"  Ken greeted.  He had the canvas and folded up easel 
tucked under one arm and a small box of paint in his hand.
    Ami looked up from her book at the two of them.  "Hello. Did we 
interrupt anything?"  She asked in that innocent tone that could only 
come out of her mouth.
    "No, of course not."  Both Ken and Lita said quickly.  
Simultaneously, they brought one hand up to scratch the back of 
their heads and smiled the kind of smile only a person caught in the 
act of doing something guilty would smile.
    "Well, we're here to relieve your shift."  Rei reminded.  "I'm 
sure you guys are dying to leave."
    Lita shook her head and frowned.  "No, not really.  I never get 
tired of the park."
    The blond rolled her eyes, "Lita, Lita, Lita.  After three whole 
weeks of watching the dull park, don't you feel a tad sick of it?"
    Sticking her lower lip out, Lita shook her head.  "Not one bit." 
Her stomach let out a growl.
    "Sounds like you guys should go get something to eat,"  Ami 
deducted.
    Ken nodded enthusiastically.  He had been so absorbed in his 
painting that he completely ignored lunch.  They said their good-byes 
and were on their way to Lita's apartment, where she said there was 
plenty of leftovers, enough to last till Christmas.

    "Home sweet home!"  Lita called out, throwing her keys onto the 
couch.   That was the only thing out of place. Everything else in 
her spacious apartment was in spic and span order.
    Before sitting down on the couch to watch TV, Ken made sure his 
canvas and paint box were in a place which he could locate later.  He 
still needed to add some finishing touches.  Lita was yet to see 
what he painted today, but he carefully wrapped it up in a burlap 
cloth to prevent her viewing it.
    "I'll just warm up the leftovers and toss a salad."  Lita told 
him and  entered the kitchen.  
    From there, he heard her banging around for pots and pans and he 
heard the beeping while she was setting her microwave timer.  There 
was nothing good on TV so he went in and offered to give her a hand.
    "No, go back and watch TV. Everything here is under control."  
Lita told him. She searched for a knife on her dish rack but found 
none, so she opened the drawer where she kept the kitchen utensil 
and searched around for a knife in there.
    "I'll help you cut up the veggies,"  he said, holding onto a 
carrot.
    "No, thank you.  I can handle the salad.  It's not as hard as-"  
Lita started with sarcasm, but ended with an, "Ouch!"
    "What happened?"  Ken asked.
    Lita held up her hand, the hand which she was fumbling around in 
the drawer with.  She scolded herself for stupidly sticking her hand 
in the drawer and "feeling" for the right kitchen utensil.  It had a 
nice sharp cut down the side of her finger and bright red blood 
started to seep through it.
    Ken immediately took that hand and held it close for inspection. 
He started to pull her to the restroom for the first-aid kit, but she 
stopped him. 
    "Don't worry, it's not that serious.  Just a small paper cut."  
She assured him.
    "You'd better wrap it up before it bleeds anymore."  He warned 
her.
    "Later, let me just finish the salad,"  she replied after wiping 
off the cut with a clean tissue.  As she said, it was a minor cut 
and didn't really bleed at all.
    "No, I'll do it, you go and put a bandage around it."  He said, 
taking a knife from the drawer and starting to cut the carrot.
    "It's okay, look!"  she waved the finger in his face, frustrated 
at why he was making such a big deal.  It wasn't as if she cut a 
vein or something.
    "Fine,"  Ken stated in a calm way that scared her.  "You want to 
make the salad so bad, go ahead."
    "Ken?"  Lita asked, moving closer to him. She could tell he was 
upset. But who would be so upset over a simple salad?
    "Here!"  He said, holding the knife to her, handle first.  "Cut 
your damn carrots."
    Lita looked at the knife, then at the hand which was holding 
it.  His hand was starting to tremble and Lita knew it was 
definitely not because of caffeine.  She said softly, "No, Kennie.  
If you want to cut the carrots, go ahead.  You can help me with the 
salad.  Don't get angry over it."
    "No,"  Ken shook his head.  In one swift, fluid motion, he took 
the knife again by the handle and stuck it into the cutting board so 
that it stood there on its own.  "You can do it.  I don't care if 
you cut your damn finger off!"
    The first thought that ran through her mind was, he was on 
drugs.  Then, she crossed that out. He wasn't stupid enough to go 
take drugs.  He was way smarter than that.  The second, more 
rational thought was, something was bothering him and from the looks 
of it, it had been bothering him for a long time, except he only let 
it out till now.
    "Kennie, what's wrong?"  she asked,  putting a hand on his 
shoulder affectionately.
    "Nothing's wrong!  I just wanted to cut the damn carrots, but 
you wouldn't f*cken let me!"  He exclaimed. 
    [Oh man, he's really mad.]  Lita thought.  He was starting to 
swear and he never did that unless he was super angry.  "Somehow, I 
don't think this has anything to do with the salad anymore."
    "No shit, Sherlock."  he replied.  He really couldn't keep it 
under control anymore.  As soon as he let that trickle of anger out, 
everything burst through the dams.
    Lita was also getting angry. Whatever was making Ken like this, 
she had no idea about and she was angry that Ken wasn't even 
courteous enough to tell her what he was so upset about.  "Well 
then, Dr Watson, what's it about?"
    "You don't know?"  He asked, in a tone used only to state the 
obvious.
    "How should I know?!"  Lita shouted.  She really hated fighting 
with him like that, but it would just sometimes explode between the 
two of them.  "You haven't told me since we came in and it's not 
tattooed on your forehead, so how the hell am I supposed to know?!"
    "You don't know?"  He repeated again. "And I thought you were 
the high and ominous one?"
    "I never said that!"  she  yelled.  "What do I look like?  A 
psychic?  If you want a psychic, just go call that stupid 800 
number!"
    "You don't know?!"  He asked for the third time, emphasizing 
each word.
    "No!" she shouted.  "I _don't_ know!  And until you actually 
tell me what this is about, I'll probably never know!  It hurts that 
I don't know!"
    "You're not too bright are you?  You know what it's about?  The 
whole thing is about YOU!  And you want to know what hurts even 
more?  It hurts to know that one your _best_ friends, your 
_girlfriend_ went behind your back and dated your other best 
friend!  That's what hurts!"
    "Why don't you just leave the past behind you?!  That was almost 
three months ago and you're still bringing it up? What, there's 
nothing else to fight about?"  she demanded.  Inside, she was 
breaking.  Would he always bring that up when they were fighting? 
Wouldn't he forget it already?
    "But you kissed him!"  he shouted.
    "So what?!  You even admitted yourself that you kissed another 
girl.  But you don't see me starting a fight over it!"  She told him.
    "But that was different!  I tried to convince myself she was-"
    "And that was wrong!"  Lita reminded him.  "Pretending she was 
someone else doesn't justify it.  It even makes it worse."
    "But-"
    "And you're the one who told Leo to take me out, so what are you 
yelling about?"  
    "I told him to keep an eye on you, not to practically propose to 
you!"  He growled.
    "We've been through this so many times already.  Just put the 
past behind you!  Why do you keep hanging on to it? It'll only eat 
away at you until-"  Lita was interrupted as he turned his back on 
her.
    "Put my past behind me?  Okay, fine, I will."  He said coldly.  
He blocked out the feeling of despair that was screaming inside of 
him and started to walk out of the kitchen.
    "Ken!"
    "I'm going to put my past behind me."  He told her.  He reached 
the front door and opened it. Before leaving, he said a final words, 
"Good bye, Lita Kino."  That was the last time he ever set foot in 
her apartment.
    "Kennnn!"  Lita shouted in anger and in hurt, but it was drowned 
out by the sudden slam of a door that echoed a thousand times more 
in her heart.  That was the last time she saw him without the 
formals on.
        

    The clock changed from 5:59 to 6:00 P.M.  
    "Serena is late again."  Rei stated without looking up from her 
manga.
    "What else is new?"  Mina asked.
    Everyone turned to Darien, who was still reading from the same 
book he started a month ago.  At first, he didn't notice the looks, 
then, he felt the eyes on him.
    "Weren't you supposed to drive her over here?"  Lita asked him.
    He put the book down and frowned.  "You don't think I forgot 
about her do you?  She had detention really late today and said 
she'd catch the bus over here as soon as she was done."
    Luna let out a sigh and hung her head in shame.  "The future 
Queen of Tokyo has a terrible school record."
    Mina laughed and suggested that Serena could use her "Moon 
Healing" to clear up her record.
    "What's the use? She'll only fill it up with detentions the next 
day."  Rei reminded.
    "So should we start the meeting without her?"  Artemis asked 
after a yawn.  He really found these meetings quite dull.  Most of 
the time, the girls sat around gossiping while the guys played video 
games with an occasional joining in from one of the girls.
    "Let's give her a few more minutes.  Maybe she's just a little 
late."  Ami said in her quiet way.   
    "Where's Ken?"  Rei asked Lita, hoping that talking about 
something other than Serena being late would help pass the hours 
until she actually got there.
    Lita suddenly  looked at her in surprise, then at Mina.
    "What? You guys have a secret I don't know?"  Rei questioned.  
She looked at Mina.  "Mina, spill it."
    The guilty blonde shook her head, "It's not really my place to 
tell."
    Lita sighed from relief.  She really didn't want Rei to hear it 
from Mina.  The night that she and Ken fought, three days ago, she 
had called Mina immediately after and told her everything.  After 
doing so, she felt more calm and the anger slipped away.  
Unfortunately, to take the place of anger, a longing, an ache came 
into her.  Silently, she dreaded the Monday when the Scout meetings 
scheduled because she was afraid he might be there. Yet, she looked 
forward to it, eager almost, hoping he'd show up with flowers or 
candy and an apology.  
    "We had a fight,"  Lita said softly.
    "Oh,"  Rei apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't know-"
    Lita smiled, "It's okay.  It wasn't your fault or anything."
    "Don't worry, you guys always work it out in the end."  Mina 
chirped cheerfully and put her hand on Lita's shoulder.  "Even if 
you can't be certain of the weather, one thing you can be certain of 
is that you and Ken will work it out no matter what."
    That was a nice thought.  Lita pondered it for a moment, if only 
it was that simple.  By the way Ken exploded the other night, she 
could tell he had been holding it all in for a long time.  And it 
would take an even longer time for them to patch things up.
    While Lita was thinking, Rei was scrutinizing her.  She could 
tell Lita was in deep concentration.  She hadn't seen Lita think 
that hard ever since that time Ami _tried_ to teach all of them the 
fundamentals of Trigonometry and Logarithms.
    Noticing that Rei was looking at her, Lita asked, "What?  Why 
are you looking at me that way, Rei?"
    Rei gave half a smile, the kind of smile you'd see from someone 
who'd just given up.  "It was a serious fight wasn't it?"
    Lita only nodded.
    "Why don't you go apologize?"  Ami, who had been quiet for the 
whole time, suggested.
    "Because it wasn't my fault,"  Lita defended.  Although she 
knew she had done something to light the fuse that fed the dynamite, 
she also knew that if he hadn't exploded that night, it would have 
come anyway one of those days.
    "Come on, Lita.  If you go apologize, I betcha he'll claim all 
the fault for himself and then you guys will be happy again."  Mina 
persuaded.
    "It was his fault and he should apologize.  Besides, it's not 
that simple."  Lita tried to explain.
    "Was it about Leo?"  Rei questioned, her eyes narrow.
    "Yeah.  He's still angry about that."
    "But he's not angry at you.  I think he's more angry at what 
happened rather than you." Rei said, alleviating the guilt from 
Lita's shoulders.
    "Yeah, I guess.  I mean, him and Leo are still friends, but I 
think I put some sort of distance between them or something. They're 
not as close anymore."  Lita thought aloud.  She didn't like the 
thought of two good friends fighting over a girl and loosing their 
friendship over the girl, even if it was her.
    "You know,"  Mina suddenly said with a thoughtful expression, 
"It's kinda romantic how he's so protective of you.  Obviously he 
doesn't want to lose you."  
    "Yes, but it can only go so far."  Ami reminded.
    The three girls got into a discussion about how protective a guy 
was supposed to be before it got drastic while Lita just sat there 
silently and brooded over her dilemma.
    "Don't be so stubborn," a voice inside of her head urged her to 
apologize.  "But for what?"  another voice asked. She hadn't done 
anything to really tick him off so why should she apologize?  "It 
wouldn't hurt to go over there and talk things out, he probably 
needs someone to talk to anyway."
    Back in the old days, Lita remembered how easy it was to talk to 
him and vice versa.  If this had been a problem he had with any 
other girl, Lita could have easily helped him with it. But this 
wasn't another girl. This was her and she could feel her feelings, 
knew his feelings, and it wasn't that easy anymore.
    Sometimes, she wondered if it was a mistake to become 
romantically interested with her best friend, someone she confided 
in, someone she told her deepest secrets to.  Who would she go to 
for advice if she had a fight with him, like now?
    "You hurt the ones you love the most,"  Lita's mind repeated 
over and over again.  She finally got the meaning.  It was because 
she let the ones she loved get to her most.  It wouldn't matter if a 
stranger came up to her and picked a fight.  She wouldn't care.  But 
this stranger was Ken, _her_ Kennie and that's what hurt.
    "Maybe us getting together is wrong?"  she asked herself.  
Everything was so calm when she wasn't romantically involved with 
him.  Things were good.  But ever since they had become an "item", 
things would tilt once in a while.  "Maybe it was a mistake?"  
    But after one thought, she knew it wasn't a mistake. The memory 
of Ken's lips on hers, his hand holding hers, and his eyes gazing 
into hers reminded her that this was what she wanted and what she 
enjoyed more than just friendship.  
    No, it went way beyond friendship and nothing was going to break 
that bond.  Not even the biggest fight they could have could break 
that bond.  Lita was now determined not to let this stupid fight get 
between what was rightfully theirs:  happiness and love.
    "Uhh...yooohooo!  Lita!"  Rei waved a hand in front of her zoned 
out friend.
    "Hmm?"  Lita snapped back into reality with a new found goal: to 
patch up this little seam in their relationship.  Lita and Ken. 
Those words sounded good together to her.
    "Wow, we thought you were a goner.  You've been staring at the 
wall for a wayyyyy long time.  Longer than Serena."  Mina told her.
    "I was thinking."
    "About Ken?"
    "Yeah, after this meeting, I'm going to march over to his place 
and we're going to make up no matter what!"  Lita stated with 
determination.
    "Alright!"  Mina gave her a hi-five.  
    "That's the spirit,"  Rei also commented.  She looked a little 
distracted. She checked the clock.  "It's late, even for Serena.  
She's never been _this_ late."  
    "Yeah, and the school is closed by now, even for detention 
students."  Lita agreed.
    "I wonder where she could be?"  Ami thought.
    "She'd better not be at the arcades! I told her about five times 
about this meeting today."  Luna fumed.
    That was when Ami noticed it was raining outside.  "Hey, 
listen....it's raining."
    They all perked their ears up to listen to the splatter of 
raindrops on the roof of the temple.
    "That's odd,"  Lita said.  "It wasn't raining when I got here 
and there wasn't a cloud in sight."
    "Well, you know how it is this time of year.  One minute, it's 
sunny, the next, it's pouring."  Mina shrugged.
    "That's probably what's taking Serena so long, then." 
    Ami's mini-computer starting beeping, so she took it out and 
answered it.  On the screen was Serena's distressed face.
    "Ames, call the others!"  Serena said in a stage whisper.
"Tell her she's really totally majorly-"  Rei started but was 
cut off by Ami.
    "Shhh!  I can't hear her." Ami strained her ears to understand 
what Serena was blubbering about.  "Speak up, Serena. I can't hear 
you."
    "I'm at the park and there's some crazy red-haired lady I think 
she's from the Negaverse and she's zapping a lot of energy and she 
says she won't stop 'til she hurt every single person in Tokyo like 
she's been hurt and I really think you guys should all get here 
because she looks like a tough one and hurry because she's killing a 
lot of people and I think I'll go stop her right now, see you there 
soon I hope."  Serena blurted out and signed off.
    Everyone heard that loud, but it was very abstract.  They got 
the fundamentals of what she said and were already halfway down the 
hill to the park.  During the first half of the trip, they all 
transformed because the streets down the hill were deserted.
    [I guess I'll have to talk to Ken later,] Sailor Jupiter thought 
as she ran faster.  Her longer legs gave her a better advantage and 
she was the first to arrive at the park.  Although Serena didn't 
pinpoint the exact location the trouble was at, she had a hunch to 
go towards the shrieking.
    "I won't allow you to harm innocent bystanders like this!  In 
the name of the Moon!"  Sailor Moon was already into her speech when 
the rest got there.
    "And in the name of Mercury!"
    "Jupiter!"
    "Mars!"
    "And Venus!"
    "We shall punish you!"  They promised and finished their stances.
The red-haired woman threw her head back and howled with 
laughter.  "You guys are too much!  A bunch of adolescent girls in 
short skirts are going to punish me?!  Mwahahahahaha!"  She simply 
pointed a finger in their general direction and suddenly, the found 
themselves thrown back into surrounding trees.  The woman looked 
smugged at that reaction, "Well, since we're doing introductions, 
I'm Scandite from the Negaverse obviously and we'll see who's going 
to punish who."
    Sailor Jupiter was the first to haul herself off the floor.  She 
walked toward Scandite, brushing off a few twigs on her outfit and 
smirked.  "There's much more to us than girls in short skirts."  By 
then, her hair was soaked in the rain and hung in a limp ponytail 
with her bangs plastered on her forehead.  She brushed them to the 
side and got ready for attack.
    Scandite tried to use her dark energy to throw her across the 
park again, but Sailor Jupiter quickly dove out of the way.
"I'm Sailor Jupiter and I don't stand for Nega-sleeze like you!  
Jupiter Supreme Thunder!"  Sailor Jupiter shouted and aimed right at 
the crazy woman.
    Unfortunately for the scouts, the rain was not the most 
desirable medium to be conducting their powers with, but it was the 
only choice.  Sailor Jupiter's Thunder swerved off a bit, missing 
the target by a fraction of an inch, all because of the rain.
    Deciding that her powers weren't much use when it was raining 
hard like that, Sailor Jupiter used a physical approach and launched 
a kick toward the lady, but as her foot was about to make contact 
with Scandite, she was pushed out of the way, deflected, and flung 
into another tree.
    [We really have to find somewhere without trees to fight,] she 
thought as her head spun.
    "In the name of the Moon, I shall punish you!" Sailor Moon 
shouted to get Scandite's attention once she saw that Scandite was 
about to give Jupiter another hit.
    "So, your turn now?"  Scandite faced her next opponent and shook 
her head.  "This is almost too easy."
    "Mars Fire Bird Strike!"  Sailor Mars took this time to unleash 
her fiery pet.
    The rain only wore it down so that by the time it reached 
Scandite, it was only a mere firefly that only gave a minor burn on 
the arm, which she hardly noticed.  She was about to throw a barrage 
of energy bolts toward the pigtailed scout when something red 
flashed between them and implanted themselves onto the ground.
    Following that was music that came from no where.  The music 
contained a Spanish guitar and maybe a few clicks and clacks.  
[Tuxedo Mask!] Sailor Moon recognized that music anywhere.  She 
turned, expecting to see him on a tree top, but didn't see him.
    "Over here!" Tuxedo Mask called.  Instead of his usual, almost 
expected grand entrance, he was simply walking towards them.  "The 
park is a beautiful place of happiness-"
    "Yeah, yeah, save me the lecture." Scandite interrupted him.  
"Lemme guess, you're on their side?"
    "The side of good is like-"  Tuxedo Mask started into another 
speech.
    "Yeah, whatever.  Anyway, that's one more I have to kill."  
Scandite shrugged as if it were nothing.   She searched through the 
scene, seeing five scouts, one man in a tuxedo, but not the one she 
was looking for.  [Where the hell is the green one?] she asked 
herself.  Looking amongst even the bodies strewn all over the place, 
she still couldn't fine the one person she was looking for.
    "Mercury Ice Bubbles!"  Sailor Mercury seized the opportunity, 
"Blast!"
    Scandite was effectively frozen from the knees down, therefore 
dragging her once floating form from the air and crashing down to 
the grass below.  The crass succeeded in knocking the ice free from 
her legs. She easily got up and brushed some small chunks of ice 
from her legs and glared at Mercury.
    "You're going to pay. You all will pay for my suffering!"  She 
swore.
    "The only one who'll pay is you!  For disturbing the peace, that 
is."  Sailor Moon told her and held out her scepter.  "Moon Scepter-"
    Scandite threw a gust of wind at her and succeeded in knocking 
the scepter clear out of close reach and throwing Sailor Moon back a 
couple hundred feet.  She seemed to be growing taller and taller by 
the minute.  "You think you can stop me with that?  Do you think 
that I've collected so much energy, just so you can stop me with 
that?  Do you think I'll give up that easily?  You're wrong!"
    Sailor Jupiter twirled her fingers by her temple, whispering to 
Sailor Venus, "This one really is a psycho."
    "Shush!"  All Scandite did was raise a hand and the two scouts 
went sprawling in the other direction.  Tuxedo Mask tried to hit her 
a couple times, but failed miserably because after all, what harm 
could roses do?
    By then, they were all suspended in the air, floating ten feet 
above ground dangerously.  Scandite kept them there, thinking of 
what to do next.  "I'll kill each one of you carefully. Now who 
wants to go first, I'll spare you the horror of watching your 
friends die if you go first."
    The pounding rain still didn't let up and all the scouts were by 
then, soaked to the skin.  Sailor Mercury tried to throw some more 
ice bubbles her way, but it didn't go far before Scandite reversed 
it and threw it back.
    "This is the most powerful general they've faced."  Artemis 
whispered to Luna. Both cats were hidden safely behind some leaves 
of a branch and had been watching the whole thing with a sinking 
feeling.  Luna finally understood why there were so many youma 
attacks lately.  It was all to gather up energy for this.   
    No matter how many attacks were thrown at her, Scandite only 
threw them back effortlessly.  By the time the scouts learned that 
the attacks weren't working, they had all taken a beating or two.
    

    Ken closed his eyes as a bead of sweat slowly dropped from his 
hair and trickled down the side of his face.   He pushed his body 
harder, never wanting to stop.  Sure it hurt, but this hurt didn't 
even compare to the hurt he knew he'd feel if he stopped.  He didn't 
want to stop and feel that dense, empty hole in his heart.
    "Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred."  He huffed and 
stopped, lying on his stomach on the cold kitchen linoleum.  One 
hundred sit-ups.  He didn't think he'd make it, but he did.  [Lita] 
His mind was shouting at him while he shouted back, "Shut up!"
    [Lita]
    [Lita]
    Finally, Ken stopped trying to block all thoughts of Lita from 
entering his mind.  He wondered, what the fight was about.  He 
couldn't recall off the top of his head.  [Lita]
    He remembered her yelling at him, those stinging words, and he 
remembered yelling back and seeing it sting in her eyes.  But what 
was the fight about?  [Lita]
    Now he remembered.  It was because of his pig-headed jealousy 
that caused those fatal words to each other. [Lita]
    More than his pride was wounded.  Ken felt a part of him slowly 
start to die since he stomped out of the apartment.  It was his 
fault, he knew, but did he want to admit that?  Wasn't each person 
at least get to keep their pride.  [Lita]
    "This isn't about pride damnit!"  Ken shouted to himself.  "I'm 
going over there and I'm going to apologize!"
    He felt better after saying that, meaning it.  He was going to 
hug her, kiss her and tell her how sorry he was and that everything 
was his fault.  Right after the shower  of course.  Lita wouldn't be 
too happy if came dripping with sweat to apologize.  He stepped 
into the shower into the cold, icy water.  [Lita]
    All of a sudden, it hit him like a ton of bricks.  [Lita!]  
Lita was in trouble!  He recognized the feeling.  Quickly throwing 
some clothes on and turning the water off, he ran out of his house.  
He didn't care where he was going, he knew where ever it was, Lita 
would be there, in danger.  He transformed in a deserted ally and 
continued to run at lightning speed.  "Please let her be alright, 
please let her be alright, please let her be alright."  He prayed.  
Ken couldn't keep the gruesome images of Lita lying on the floor, 
her body diced in neat little inch-squares in a bloody mess.
    The park was where Ken's feet were taking him and he pushed 
harder for them to go faster.  He didn't care who saw him as Jupiter 
Knight on the street, his one objective was to save Lita.  "Please 
let her be alright.  I promise to stop eating meat and I'll study 
more, I'll clean my room, I'll do chores, and I won't ever fight 
with her again. Just please let her be alright."
    When he reached the spot he was running to, his heart sank.  All 
over the place were unconscious people sprawled in every direction.  
He quickly scanned the area, looking for any sign of scouts but saw 
none.  That was when he heard the screams.  They were coming 
directly from above, so he looked up.  When he did, he was looking 
straight up someone's skirt, but he didn't care, it wasn't the time 
for frivolous manners like that.  It was a life or death situation.
    The scouts and Tuxedo Mask yelled in agony over and over again 
as bolts and bolts of Nega-energy coursed through their body, 
sending them into a stupor.  They were all pale, almost gray, with 
pain and despite the pounding rain, sweat dripped from their bodies.
    Jupiter Knight wiped the rain from his forehead and shouted, 
"Halt!"
    "Well, well."  Scandite stopped her torture long enough to see 
who the idiot was that stopped her.  She smiled wickedly when she 
recognized who it was.
    "Let them go, Scandite."  Jupiter Knight shouted up to her.  He 
recognized her anywhere.
    "And why should I?"
    "Because it's me that you want, not them.  They didn't do 
anything to you."
    Scandite threw her head back and cackled.  "You think I want 
you?!  It's the complete opposite.  I don't want you and I'm going 
to eradicate you from the face of this miserable planet."
    With a snap of her fingers, youmas closed in from all directions 
towards Jupiter Knight, making a tight circle around him.  They 
didn't look too different from the youmas the scouts were used to 
fighting usually so it wasn't much of a big deal. They were the same 
brainless zombies that followed the general's everywhere.
    Sailor Jupiter looked down, squinting through the rain that was 
coming down like sleet and was almost comparable to Mercury's fog.  
Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the green figure below. 
She was afraid of this.  The crazy Negaverse woman had been 
muttering, bellowing, complaining and whining about "the green one" 
for the whole time while shooting bolts and bolts of Nega-energy 
towards them.  It all clicked now.  She was the woman who took Ken's 
memory, who wanted vengeance, who wouldn't give up no matter what.
    It was a struggle just to keep her conscience after being 
drained of so much energy by Scandite.  Nonetheless, Sailor Jupiter 
managed to shout a warning down to Jupiter Knight.  "Don't use your 
powers!!!"
    But it was drowned out by the sound of heavy rain.  Jupiter 
Knight held out his sword and pointed it towards the sky, using it 
like a lightning rod to generate the power that was soon to come.
    "Noooo!!"  Sailor Jupiter shouted again, but it was less than a 
whisper by the time it reached his ears.
    "Jupiter Lightning...."  Thunder crackled from above as a single 
bolt of lightning shot through the sky.  Due to the rain, the 
lightning traveled a crooked path towards the point of the sword.  
Realizing what was happening, Jupiter Knight quickly dropped the 
sword and jumped back from it just in time to avoid the misguided 
bolt of lighting that surged through the sword.
    As soon as he stepped back, a youma leapt and grabbed his arms, 
twisting them in back of him and held him firmly there.  Jupiter 
Knight struggled to get his hands free, but it was to no avail.  The 
youma was either on steroids, or was made stronger than the others.  
The other fifty or so youmas slowly closed in, their eyes glaring at 
him in a vicious red.
    Sailor Jupiter tried to break free of the strong force holding 
all of them up in the air, but that only made it more painful, more 
bolts of Nega-energy held her in position.
    "There's only one thing to do..."  Sailor Moon said solemnly, 
bearing her teeth against the pain.
    "No, Sailor Moon!  It's going to-"  Tuxedo Mask dissuaded her.
    "I know what it's going to do, but it's the only thing to do.  
Help me, Tuxedo Mask."  Sailor Moon drew her hands in front of her, 
forming a small cup.
    Tuxedo Mask nodded and inched closer to her bit by bit to shield 
her from the majority of the energy-bolts so she could get the task 
done.
    "Help me, my friends." Sailor Moon looked at the other scouts, 
who nodded.
    "Ah hah!" Scandite rubbed her hands together.  "I was warned 
that you were going to do this. Good thing I saved up enough for 
this baby."  She held out her hand and a black crystal materialized 
in it.  "Enough energy to feed three hundred generals."
    Slowly forming in Sailor Moon's cupped hands was a pure white 
and growing pebble.  It grew and as it grew, it became more 
transparent.  When it reached it's full size, the Silver Imperium 
Crystal shone brighter than the sun.
    Sailor Moon aimed it at the black crystal and shouted with all 
her strength, "Moon Power!"  The Silver Crystal shot forward a 
pinkish-white force.
    At exactly the same moment, the black crystal in Scandite's hand 
shot forward a black force, almost like a laser.  The two forces met 
halfway and the black started to gain.
    "Mars Power!"  Sailor Mars shouted and sent forward a dark red 
light towards Sailor Moon.  It channeled through her body and joined 
the Silver Crystal, making the pink force a little lighter.
    "Mercury Power!"
    "Venus Power!"  The Silver Crystal's light was gradually getting 
brighter and brighter, almost reaching a white color.
    Sailor Jupiter took one last look down at Jupiter Knight, who by 
then was more than battered by the youma.  "Your duty is to protect 
Sailor Moon." A voice that sounded a lot like Ken's echoed in her 
head.  She closed her eyes and with all the strength she had left, 
shouted, "Jupiter Power!"
    As soon as the green light reached Sailor Moon, The Silver 
Crystal's light flashed into a dazzling, blinding white and ate 
through the black crystal's light, scorching it into microscopic 
shards that flew in every direction.
    "Noooo!"  Scandite shrieked, feeling the white light burning her 
hands.  There was no time to duck, no time to hide, not even time to 
teleport.  "I'll be seeing you, Boronite...."  she whispered right 
before her body combusted into a pile of dust and shivered into the 
wind.
    The impact of the black crystal breaking  was strong enough to 
send everyone within a hundred feet of it flying back fifty yards.  
The scouts and Tuxedo Mask were released from the air and pushed 
back towards the ground.
    Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were thrown relatively in the same 
direction and bounced onto the floor. It wasn't  painful. They were 
beyond pain.
    With an "oomph", Sailor Jupiter landed on top of Jupiter Knight, 
coincidentally.  With the last of her strength, she managed to keep 
her eyes open a little longer and looked up into Jupiter Knight's 
face.  Rain splattered mud all over them, but she didn't care.  She 
brushed some mud off his cheek and closed her eyes, surrendering to 
the all too peaceful sleep beckoning to her.  "I'm sorry,"  she 
whispered before diving into the white pool of blissful "sleep".



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

What?! The end already? Well, not technically.  There's an epilogue 
(of course) that should satisfy your appetite.  You know where the 
C&C goes.

             LadyJupiter@SailorJupiter.com
**********Copyright 1998 Lady Jupiter  (All Rights Reserved)*************