Raye leaned eagerly over Amy's shoulder. "Are we close yet? Can you tell what store it came from?" she asked eagerly. Ever since that second experience she'd had, she'd been edgy. She wanted to get on with it, and find the other scouts.
Amy glanced at her with annoyance. "We're almost there, Raye. Just calm down." With one more look at the computer screen she set off at a brisk walk toward a restaurant that advertised delicious Japanese food. Finally Raye burst out again, unable to hold her impatience in a second longer.
"Is that it, Amy? Is that where the signal originated?" At Amy's nod she took off at a run toward the restaurant. Amy and Luna exchanged looks.
"What's gotten in to her? She's as rambunctious as Usagi was!" Luna held a paw up, claws extended, and examined it casually. "I was seriously tempted to give her a few scratches along her ankle. Just to teach her a little restraint."
Amy smiled in agreement. "I'm a little impatient with her too, Luna, but that's because I feel the way she does. I want to know what's going on. Having all this uncertainty hanging over my head is driving me crazy." She took off after Raye at a brisk jog. Grumbling, Luna followed.
*****
Ron was pleased. He'd finally gotten through to Interpol, and they'd sent him all their available information on Sailor V. They also sent him two other interesting tidbits. One was that an Interpol officer, Katerina, was suspected of knowing who Sailor V was. Another was a report that in Japan there was, for a short time, a whole team of sailor senshi. Five of these adolescent vigilantes running around. Just the thought made Ron's head spin. Ron had called up Katerina at the number Interpol provided him with, and from her evasive responses, he guessed Interpol's suspicions were true. He didn't have time to do anything more now, though. He was off in five minutes, and ever since he'd taken Serena in, he'd been reluctant to work overtime. Someone else needed him now, and somehow it was easier to find time for her than it had ever been for any of his girlfriends. Ron pondered that thought on his way to his car.
*****
Serena and Endymion strolled out of the store. Outside she turned to him with a little wrinkle of confusion on her forehead. "Why did you keep calling me Usako? My name is Serenity. Or Serena. That's what I'm called now."
"Serena? Why in the world would that be your name? You're Tsukino Usagi. We all thought you died two years ago. And now you're here." Endymion's hand came up and held on to her shoulders.
She shook her head. "Died two years ago? I've been dead for a thousand years, and so have you. Why would I be named moon bunny? This doesn't make any sense! You're Endymion, I'm Serenity, and there were the four princesses, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter. And we all died. And Mother-Queen Serenity-sent us to the future to live happy and peaceful lives, as long as Queen Metallia doesn't came back to take the Earth again."
Endymion shook his head right back. "You really don't remember? You're sixteen years old. You lived in Tokyo, and your parents named you Tsukino Usagi. You became friends with Mizuno Ami," he searched her face for a sign of recognition as he rattled off names she'd never heard before, "Hino Rei, Kino Makoto, Aino Minako, and me, Chiba Mamoru-you called me Mamo-chan! Don't you remember?! Usako, you've lost all your memory?"
Serena brought a shaking hand to Endymion's-Mamoru's-face. "I don't remember any of that. I only remember the Silver Millennium. The Moon Kingdom. Do you mean I was reborn as an infant? I have new parents?" She looked up at him. "Do I have any brothers or sisters? And what must they think! They've been thinking I've been dead all these years!"
Endy-Mamoru-pulled her close. "Yes, they have. We'll have to tell them you're alive. We can bring you back home, to Japan."
"But-but I don't remember them. And Ron! I can't just leave!" She clung to the one thing in the universe that was still familiar, and sobbed. <What will I do!? I don't remember after all!>
*****
"Hello?" Raye waited nervously at the cashier's station for someone to come out. "Is anybody here?" A head popped out of the kitchen. A rather nice older man stared at her.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"Yes, I was wondering if a brown-haired girl who's about my age and quite tall worked here? Or a blonde about my age, my height, with blue eyes?"
The man smiled. "Why yes, a brown-haired girl works here-her name is Lita. She's an excellent cook. Wait here for a second, I'll go get her." He turned and left. Amy walked into the restaurant, followed by Luna.
"Any luck?"
"There's a girl that fits Mako's description that works here, but her name's Lita. I don't know." Raye shrugged.
Amy looked thoughtful. "Considering the circumstances we last saw her under, I don't think it's too unlikely that she had to change her name. We'll see."
They both waited for a moment, and then the door to the kitchen opened, and Mako strode out. She stood motionless by the door for a second, then ran with a delighted cry toward the two girls. Suddenly she stopped, just short of giving them a hug. At first Raye was worried that Mako was still mad at them for all the trouble that one night so long ago. Then she saw Mako sheepishly hold up her hands. They were covered with flour. All three girls doubled over with laughter. It wasn't really all that funny, but just being back together made them feel so wonderful, they just couldn't help themselves. Mako motioned them toward the kitchen.
"Follow me, we'll talk back here." Her voice sounded just the same. Raye smiled happily. It'd been so long since she'd felt like this, like she belonged...
*****
"Raye!" her father bellowed. Raye sighed. She knew her father would be angry, but she just didn't care. The classes were so stupid here. She knew she wasn't like Ami, but she's gotten good grades back at home. Here she could get straight A's with her eyes closed. The kids here were stupid too. Just because they went to a private school they thought they were better than anybody-especially her, because she was the new kid, and didn't speak English all that well yet. So she let them know that she wasn't stupid, and she wasn't helpless. She remembered the surprised looks on everybody's face when she'd downed that big old bully after school. The look of fear on their faces made whatever punishment she was about to get worthwhile. She'd put up with their foolishness for almost two weeks. She was more than generous.
Her father yelled again. "Open this door, young lady!" Raye opened it, and sat back down on her bed, adopting the bored expression that always infuriated her father. She was in a bad mood, and she was going to do all she could to put her father in one too. "Your behavior was disgraceful! Did you know that Mrs. Kennedy called me just now! You gave her son a black eye! What were you thinking?! They're a very influential family in the States!"
Raye tossed her head. "He's a pig. When a boy treats me like that, I let him know it's not going to be tolerated. I'll bet he thinks twice before he tries anything again."
Her father's voice calmed down a notch. "Treats you like what?"
"Like I should be grateful he notices me enough to make crude suggestions to me. I swear, if he tried to pinch my rear one more time I'd rip his fingers off!" Her fists were so tightly clenched that they hurt. With precise attention she slowly peeled them open.
"I can't believe you sent me to this school, father. They're just a bunch of rich kids, convinced that they're superior. They hardly even teach advanced classes here! I could go back to a public school in Japan and get more challenging classes. They're just a bunch of jerks." Raye sniffed a little, but covered it quickly. She missed Japan. And she hated to learn English! She'd had to learn it in school, but it hadn't really been a necessity. Now it was.
"Raye...."her father tried to soften his voice, but she could still hear the annoyance, "I know this has been difficult for you, but I really need you to try to make a better impression. You have to get along with these children. They're very important."
"Why? They're a bunch of stuck-up brats! I used to be angry at you for not raising me, but if being raised by you would have made me as stupid as those spoiled brats, I'd rather be abandoned any day! None of these people are worth wasting my time on!"
"Raye! I will not have you speak of me that way! Watch what you say, girl!"
Raye didn't feel in the least intimidated. In fact, she felt as if she could take on the world. And at the very least, her father. He'd taken her away from everything she'd loved. What more could he do? "They're idiots who happen to have important parents. Why don't you send me to a school where they teach things, instead of spend the whole day telling us how wonderful we are because we attend their prestigious school. To tell you the truth Dad, I hate it there. If you don't send me someplace else-somewhere where the teachers and students have a little bit of decency, I'll make your reputation sink so low, you'll never be able to find it again. I hate the classes, the grounds, the teachers, my classmates, and the whole underlying principle of the school!" She finished off, nearly shouting by the end. Her face was flushed with strongly felt emotion, and her father stared at her for a second, open-mouthed. Without a word, he turned and left, slamming the door behind him. Raye sank back to her bed and sighed.
Great, just great. Why couldn't she just keep her stupid mouth shut. Her father never backed down from an ultimatum. Now she was going to attend this school forever, just so he could prove a point. If she'd just kept her stupid, quarrelsome mouth shut.
What she needed was a hobby, something to look forward to at the end of the day. She had to get Dad to let her start karate again. Or maybe she could start something completely new. It wasn't as if homework kept her busy anymore.
*****
She had been right. Her father wasn't backing down. She'd pushed too hard, and now he'd dug his feet in. With an angry grimace she decided she wasn't going to stay there another day. The chauffeur dropped her off at school, but as soon as the car left she walked briskly off of school grounds. She was going to get out of going to this school, if it meant she had to get herself kicked out!
*****
Raye walked home at about nine that night. She'd actually had a fun time exploring the area and practicing her English around people who didn't look down their noses at her. Out of curiosity she'd visited various psychics who had shops downtown, but most of it was completely fake, so instead she checked out the local comics. She'd spent quite a while in the store. They were well drawn, but for some reason they just didn't measure up to what her idea of a good comic would be. She sighed. Yet another reason to miss home. She'd sent off a letter to the Hikawa Jinja shrine, in the hope that Yuuichiro would receive it. It would be nice to hear from him again. It'd been a while. Over a month. She still had a hard time believing it.
When the schools normally let out, she'd found herself near a large public high school. She loved the way everyone was wearing something different. There were a lot of people, of all different types. She might not fit in at her school, but here there was bound to be a group somewhere for her. Raye sighed. They didn't realize how lucky they were.
So here she was walking home after a busy and exciting day. She was dreading getting home. She knew she was going to get trouble, and her feet dragged, but she wasn't sorry for what she'd done. She learned more wandering the city streets than she ever had in school. She'd started to get a feel for what America was like.
Finally her feet led her to the front door. She slowly opened it and slipped in. She was creeping up the stairs to her room when her father spotted her.
"I got a call today. You never showed up at school, and you've been out way too late alone! I expect a certain standard to be upheld by my daughter, and you keep falling short. I'm leaving the chauffeur with instructions to follow you into school every day and make sure you don't skip. If you try this again I'll make one of the maids go to school with you and make sure you stay. Do you understand?"
"Hai."
"Say yes! We're not in Japan anymore! I want you to fit in!"
Raye tossed her head of thick, black hair. "I don't want to fit in there. No self-respecting person would. I will do everything within my power to get out of the school as soon as possible. Do YOU understand? Everything." Without waiting for her father's reply she stalked up to her room and shut the door. With an angry grimace she wedged her desk chair up against the door. Tomorrow, she had to do something that got her expelled. She had to get out of there.
*****
The next day everything went as she planned. She was dragged to the principal's office after a particularly messy scene with the teacher she most hated. She sat on an uncomfortable plastic chair, awaiting her father. Outwardly she was sullen, but inwardly she was smiling with glee. She'd shown her father. They'd never let her stay here after swearing at the teacher like that. She'd thought seriously about hitting him, but had decided at the last second that she could show some discretion. Finally her father arrived. He was called into a conference with the principal, while she sat outside. Raye squirmed uneasily. Her discomfort wasn't a show, now. While she wanted to get kicked out of this snobbish school, she didn't look forward to facing her father. When she finally saw shadows against the principal's office window indicating her father had stood again, she firmed her chin and got ready to face the music. The door slowly opened, and her father shot her an unreadable look. Raye gulped. When you couldn't read his emotions, that meant he was REALLY angry. She was in trouble.
"Follow me, Raye. I'm taking you home." With that her father turned and left. As she followed, Raye turned to sneak a glance of the principal. His face was unreadable as well, but she detected satisfaction radiating from him. Well, that seemed to indicate she'd been expelled. At least that part of her plan had worked, thus far. She silently crawled into the official looking black car, and her father rapped the partition to indicate to the chauffeur that they were ready to leave. The car pulled away from the curb. Raye's father said nothing, just looked through papers in his briefcase. Raye wanted to scream with frustration-the suspense was worse than getting yelled at! She bit her tongue and glared sullenly at the floor.
Finally the tortuous ride ended as the car pulled up to the house they lived in. Raye flushed with sudden home-sickness. This would never be home to her-home was back in Japan. Her father and her walked up the front walk to the door, and her father held the door open for her, waiting for her to enter. He walked in behind her. Raye's back itched. She didn't like him back there where she couldn't keep an eye on him. He still said nothing. Raye walked through the living room, into a small hall that led to the kitchen and servant's rooms, and sat on her favorite chair-an overstuffed, ratty old chair, overflowing with comfort. She folded her legs up under her in a silent expression of rebellion, and left her shoes on. She folded her arms across her chest stubbornly and sat there, waiting for her father to say something.
Her father looked with disapproval at her choice of a seat, and sat down with a sigh across from her. He carefully examined his fingernails as he began to speak. Raye took a deep breath and resolved to hold on to her temper-she could be as cold and emotionless as he was.
She could.
"Do you know what you've cost me, young lady?" he asked quietly.
Raye's brow wrinkled in confusion. <That's not how I expected this conversation to start!> She didn't answer.
"That is a very exclusive and expensive school, Raye."
Raye didn't respond. She glared at the carpet.
"I had to give them a five-thousand dollar check."
She couldn't keep silent any longer. "Tuition costs that much? For that stupid place? Save your money! Let me go somewhere else!"
"No, the check was to keep you enrolled there, Raye. A place like that is full of less that perfect children of very influential parents. I paid them, and you weren't expelled."
"Well then, what can I do that's so bad you can't pay to keep me there?!" Raye finally snarled, angry her plan hadn't worked.
"Do you really hate it there enough to get something bad on your record?" He was still so infuriatingly calm! Raye's fists clenched.
"Of course I am! It's hell in there! I'll never fit in! I want OUT!" Her voice rose an octave, but she was too wrought to notice. "Weren't you listening to me the other day?! I TOLD you I hated it there, and I told you why!" Her father silently examined her. Raye shifted, uncomfortable under his scrutiny. Finally he sighed.
"Go to your room, get your homework done. We'll talk about this later." He got up and left. Raye stared after him in surprise. Usually when she started shouting at him, he started shouting right back. This was very unusual. Raye wasn't sure she liked it. With a shrug she got up and walked up the stairs to her room.
*****
"I've paid for this year's tuition in advance, Raye. I can't get the money back. I've decided that moving you from Japan was already hard enough, so I can understand why you're angry about going to a school you don't like, but I already made a year's commitment. If you'll finish out this year, I'll let you choose what school you go to next year, as a sophomore."
Raye stared with surprise at her father-this wasn't exactly what she'd wanted-she still had to spend five months with all those snobs! But he'd given in a little too. Raye was sick of living with such tension in the house. She nodded thoughtfully. "Deal. I'll stop complaining, as long as I know it's not until I graduate from high school."
She turned to walk up the stairs to her room.
Maybe her father wasn't so bad after all.
But he wasn't great either.
*****
The four girls had a tearful reunion when Lita brought Amy and Raye to Mina's house. Needless to say, Mina's parents were more than a little surprised to see all four girls together again. Mina forestalled her parent's curious questions when they got too personal, and herded her friends into her room. Artemis and Luna stood next to each other, radiating a happy glow as they kindly looked over their charges.
"It's good to see you Artemis. I must tell you, I missed this." Luna leaned up against him with a happy sigh.
"I was more than a little worried about you, Luna, stuck at the Tsukino's. I'm glad you could live with Amy. Only one thing's missing...." Artemis trailed off sadly. He hadn't been as close to Usagi as Luna had, but the loss of the Moon Princess had affected him deeply. His ears pricked up with interest as he heard Amy begin to discuss her findings on the unusual energy echoes, and the initial burst of energy that started them. Amy looked down at her computer.
"The only unexplained energy source came from the business section of downtown. I think we should all tell our parents we're going on a shopping trip, and find this source. We have to know where it came from since we now know the other four came from us."
While she continued, Luna looked at Artemis with her eyes half-closed in happiness. "Almost like old times, isn't it?" she asked wistfully.
Artemis returned the look, and with a rumbling purr kneaded his snow white paws against Mina's bedspread.
*****
When Ron got home he found Serena's note on the counter. At first he wasn't worried, secure that she would be home soon. After an hour he was worried. What if she'd re-entered her coma, or run away? Or regained her memory of home, but forgot her time with him? What if she never came back? He strode to the phone and called the station.
*****
The dragon rider pointed toward one continent on the blue planet. While other areas of this planet had equal technology and some were nearly as rich in resources, this was the most obvious choice for the residence of a superior being like himself. Whoever had this power he'd felt-whether they were a noble from the Moon Kingdom, or someone who'd found one of those nobles' sources of power-they would most likely live here. In obedience the dragon folded it's wings and dived for the surface.