Hello, everybody!  Welcome back!  Back to Universal B, back to my normal
style of writing, and back to my normal main character!  If you want to know
what happened before, go back to the prologue.  Also go back to the prologue
if you want to see the disclaimers (I have FOUR of them this time.)  Back to
the important stuff, my address is Jendra@aol.com and I love mail, so tell
me what you think.


Sailor Moon Universal B

Chapter One:  Meetings and Reunions


A boy and girl dressed in a local school's uniform walked down the
street.  The girl had her long blond hair in a strange hairstyle, done
up in two buns with long streamers falling almost to her knees.  The boy
was slightly taller with hair several shades more golden than his
companion's blond.

"What's the matter, Serena?" the boy asked worriedly.  She had been very
silent since they left school, something that only happened when she had
something serious on her mind.  The last time she had been that silent
was over three months ago.

Serena shook her head slightly and looked at her companion.  "It's
nothing important, Travis," she said quietly, worrying him even more.

"Don't try telling me that," Travis said, "Not only are you never this
silent unless you're worried, but I can practically feel the tension
radiating off of you."  Travis grinned slightly.  "If thou art not
worried, dear sister, then thou must have the need of cheering.  And
fate is kind, for I am here, and I am the perfect one to cheer thy
dreary day."

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you," Serena said immediately.  She glared
at her twin brother. "Anything to make you shut up," she muttered under
her breath.

Travis clasped his hands to his heart, "A fatal blow!  Oh, the pain! She
has killed me with her wit!"

Serena tried hard to hide her smile as she kept walking away from her
brother, who was now lying on the sidewalk miming death convulsions.
Several people nearby applauded.  He jumped to his feet, bowed, and then
raced after Serena.

"So what's wrong?" he asked seriously as he caught up to her.  All trace
of joking had disappeared.

"It really isn't anything important," she said, looking up at him.
"It's just Mom has decided she really wants to meet Darien and Dad has
'very' reluctantly agreed.  So now I've got to introduce them to each
other, and hope I won't have to call an ambulance because my father has
attacked my boyfriend, or had a heart attack over his age!"

Travis breathed a silent sigh of relief, it really wasn't important,
except to her of course.  "So, are you going to introduce them?"

"I don't know!" Serena wailed, "I mean, you've seen how fanatic Daddy
can get over me having a boyfriend.  What if he does attack Darien?  Or
what if he has a heart attack?  Or what if they just don't like each
other? What if Daddy forbids me to see him again?  I'll just die if they
don't get along.  I can't live without Darien, you know that!"

Travis' sigh was not exactly one of relief anymore. *I should have left
well enough alone,* he thought as he listened to his no longer silent
sister babble on.  "So you haven't decided on a date for this meeting
yet?" he asked.

Serena didn't answer.

By this time they had reached Travis' house.  Travis raised his hand and
allowed the large golden falcon, Apollo, to land on his upraised fist.
"So, what's going on?" Apollo asked in his grating voice.

"Oh, we're just trying to figure out how to introduce Darien to Serena's
parents," Travis explained.

"We can't," Serena said suddenly.  "We'll just have to tell Mom that he
can't get off work or something.  I can't introduce them! I can't take
that kind of chance!"

"What kind of chance?" a voice said from inside.

"Uncle Jake!" Travis shouted, throwing Apollo into the air and running
up to throw his arms around his guardian.  "When did you get home?  How
long are you going to stay?  Where did you go?  Did you do anything
exciting?"

Serena giggled silently.  *He's as bad as me!*

Jake's thoughts were not nearly so cheerful.  He looked down at his ward
and saw how happy he was to see him.  *I was right,* he thought.
*Travis needs a full time father around.  I know Serena's family loves
him dearly and treats him like a son, but it's not the same as having
someone 'here' all the time.*

"Hi Uncle Jake," Serena said, going up to give him a hug as well.  Both
Serena and Travis had hearts big enough that when they had found out
they were twins, both instantly expanded their families to include the
others.  As far as Serena was concerned, Travis' guardian was her Uncle
Jake as well.

Uncle Jake immediately opened the hug to include her.  He had never had
any trouble accepting his ward's twin sister either.  Still, he had a
special spot in his heart for Travis, and it was aching at the delight
on Travis' face.

"I got home about two hours ago," he finally answered some of Travis'
questions.  "And I'm staying for at least three months."

"What?" both Serena and Travis screeched.  Travis' voice for once being
much louder than his sister's.

Jake looked straight at Travis.  "This last assignment, I spent most of
the time thinking about coming home.  I missed you.  And I finally
realized something I 'should' have realized months ago.  I'm a family
man now, and my first responsibility should be you.  It is you."

Travis' face went hard. "I don't want to be a responsibility, Uncle
Jake," said Travis harshly.  He suddenly turned and ran out of the
house, slamming the door behind him.

Serena stared after him with her mouth hanging open.  She had never seen
him act like that.  Travis never lost his temper!  "What happened?" she
asked dazedly.

"I messed up," Jake admitted slowly.  "I knew better then to use that
word!" he yelled at himself.  "I practiced that speech a dozen times,
why didn't I realize it?"

"Realize what?  What word?  Uncle Jake, why was he so mad?" Serena asked
intently.  She was suddenly very worried about her brother, and Jake
didn't look very good either.

"Travis was a responsibility to too many people, for far too long," Jake
said quietly.  "I think that right now, he's afraid that that is all he
is to me.  A responsibility."

"But that's silly!" Serena answered immediately.  "Anyone can tell that
you love him."

"So, you can see that, hmm?" Jake asked, smiling slightly.

"Of course.  It's obvious," Serena answered.  "And he loves you too."

"When has he had time to love me?" Jake asked quietly. "I'm never here."

"When have you had time to love him?" Serena asked back.  "You're never
here, remember?"

"That's different," Jake said uncomfortably, becoming even more
uncomfortable as he looked into Serena's laughing eyes.  "Okay, so it's
not different."

"Talk it over with him at dinner then," Serena said, still trying not to
laugh as she heard Jake argue like a teenager.

"He probably won't eat here tonight," Jake answered.

"Fine then, you're invited over to dinner at our house tonight," Serena
said impatiently, "As long as you promise to try to work this out.
Besides," she whispered to herself, "I could use the support."

"What do you mean?" Jake asked, having heard the whisper.

"Oh, well, Mom and Dad kinda, um..." Serena stuttered, then she forced
it out, "They want me to invite Darien over to dinner tonight!  They
want to meet him.  What if they don't like him?  What if they say I
can't see him anymore?"

Jake stopped her before she could start worrying anymore.  "Have you
asked him yet?" he asked.

"No," Serena admitted, "I'm thinking about just telling Mom he can't
come."

"Serena," Jake drawled.

"I know, I know," Serena muttered.  "But you know Dad's going to think
he's too old for me."

"Well, there is quite a difference in your ages," Jake put in.

"Don't start," Serena snapped out.

Just then her watch started beeping.  Serena looked at it, then looked
up at Jake, "I forgot about that, I've got to go.  I'll see you
tonight," she shouted as she ran out the door.

Serena caught up with Travis as he was headed towards the temple.  "Do
you know what it's about?" he asked before she could start asking
questions about his behavior.

"I don't know," Serena answered.  "Raye just said she wanted everyone to
get over to the temple."

"A new enemy, do you think?" Travis asked.

"You don't have to sound so happy with the idea," Serena snapped.

"Hey, I get bored," Travis answered, shrugging.

"Well, I for one, could do with some more time off," Serena answered.

"Oh, come on," Travis laughed, "Are you trying to tell me that you
aren't looking forward to actually doing something?"

"I have been doing something," Serena said harshly.  "I've been going
shopping, going on dates with Darien, hanging out with my friends, all
the things a normal teenage girl should do.  That's what I want to
continue doing.  Being a normal teenage girl."

"Oh, come on, you don't really mean that," Travis teased.  "You don't
miss having the dashing Tuxedo Mask come and save you with a rose, in
the nick of time?  You don't miss making those cheesy speeches?"

"You don't miss spending time with your uncle?" Serena answered back.

Travis stopped.  "It's not the same thing," he said quietly.

"Yes it is," Serena answered, stopping as well.

"Look," Travis said even quieter, "I don't want to be a responsibility
to him.  I don't want him to love me because he has to."

"He loves you just as much as you love him.  I know you think of him as
a father, so don't try telling me you don't."

"Why not?  You're trying to tell me you don't enjoy fighting," Travis
answered.

It was now her turn to say, "It's not the same thing."

The argument might have gone on for a while, if they hadn't suddenly
been interrupted by a beeping on their wrists.

"What?" Serena asked absently.

"Where are you, Meatball Head?" Raye's voice came easily through the
communicator.  "You should have gotten here by now."

"We'll be there in a minute," Serena answered.

"Come on, let's go before she gets even madder."  They started running.
"By the way, you're coming to dinner tonight, aren't you?" Serena asked.

"Let me guess, Uncle Jake's going to be there, and you want us to make
up," Travis said, "Or am I wrong, and you're actually 'not' going to
interfere?"

"Actually, I want you there because Mom said I was supposed to bring
Darien over 'tonight', and I can use all the support I can get," Serena
answered.  "But if you don't want to be there, and help your only sister
in her darkest hour, that's okay, I don't mind."  Serena tried to keep
up the sad face, but couldn't and burst out laughing.

Travis laughingly agreed to be there as they reached the steps to Raye's
temple.

"So?" Raye asked as soon as they reached the top.

"So what?" Serena answered.

"So, why did it take you so long to get here?" Raye yelled.

"We were busy!" Serena yelled back immediately.

"Was it more important than a Scout meeting?" Raye yelled even louder.

"Raye!" Luna, Amy, and Lita yelled out.

"What's all the shouting about?  I could hear it even up there," a
gravely voice asked.  They turned to see Travis moving Apollo from his
fist to his shoulder.

"I just wanted to know why she was so irresponsible as to arrive late,"
Raye announced in an almost even voice.

"Irresponsible?" Serena yelled back.  "I'm not the one that yelled out
that this was a Scout meeting."

Raye slowly blushed as she realized that Serena was right.  She 'had'
yelled that out.  "You just did!" she retorted angrily.

"Why were you late?" Amy asked, stopping the argument.  "You must admit,
it's not something that happens that often anymore."

"Hey," Lita put in, "She was late to school yesterday."

"Well, yeah," Serena reluctantly agreed.  "But I was only so sleepy
because I'd stayed up late the night before."

"Doing what?  Smooching with your boyfriend?" Raye asked snidely.

"I wish," Serena said dreamily as she thought about Darien.  "No, I was
studying for the math test."

Raye sighed, the wind taken out of her sails again.  Over the past three
months Serena had continued to show a new level of maturity.  She was
now a 'B' student, and was usually on time.  The martial arts class
Travis had convinced her to start had almost cured her clumsiness.  She
still pigged out, and daydreamed, but not as badly as before.  She still
argued with Raye, but those arguments were less likely to degenerate
into tongue duels.  Not that it didn't still happen, but it didn't
happen as often.  Saturday and Sunday mornings were hers though, and the
others had been threatened with a very painful death if they bothered
her for anything other than an emergency.  Even Travis didn't dare call
her before noon.  Still, her personality hadn't changed all that much,
for which Raye was secretly glad.  She was still loving, and a little
bit ditzy although more apt to snap back at Raye instead of crying
during one of their arguments.

"Anyway, why did you call this meeting Raye?  Travis is hoping it's a
new enemy," Serena snapped back to reality.

"So do I," Lita agreed, "It's been boring around here lately.  We
haven't had a fight for way too long."

"Well, I think you're going to get your wish," Raye answered.  "I did a
fire reading a little while ago, and I was getting some bad vibes."

"Amy, have you gotten anything on your computer?" Luna asked.

Amy already had her computer out and was checking.  "I have something,
but I can't quite tell what or where.  It's like it's hiding, and my
computer is only finding traces.  They look familiar though."

"Agreed," Raye said, causing everyone to look at her, "The energy I was
feeling felt familiar as well."

"Well, so far we've fought the Negaverse, a couple of aliens, and the
NegaMoon family from the future, which did it feel like?" Mina asked
brightly.

Raye went silent for a long moment as Amy typed on her computer.  "The
Negaverse," they both said at the same time.

"Then it's nothing to worry about," Serena dismissed it as her mind
turned towards the dinner that night.

"What do you mean it's nothing to worry about?" Raye asked scathingly.
"Do you remember how much trouble we had last time?"

"Yes, but we're stronger now, and we beat their strongest warriors then,
what do we have to worry about?" Serena asked absently.

"Serena," Luna admonished, "Don't go getting overconfident!  We have no
idea what they might have come up with over the last year.
Overconfidence like that might get someone hurt."

"Yes Luna," Serena said shamefaced.  As Luna turned away to talk to
Artemis, she didn't notice Serena sticking her tongue out at her.

"Better be careful, Meatball Head, or your face might get stuck like
that," a low teasing voice said from behind her.

"Muffin!" she cried out, turning instantly and throwing herself into his
arms.

Darien had braced himself as soon as he spoke, very used to this
reaction.  He caught her in his arms and held her until he was sure he
had his balance.  Still holding her, he looked around at the others.
"What's going on?" he asked.

Before anyone could answer, Serena loudly cleared her throat.  "Oops,
sorry," he smiled before pulling her closer, bending down and kissing
her.

When the two finally came up for air, Travis led the others in
applauding.  Even Raye and Amy joined in, although Raye wore a slight
scowl.  Luna just shook her head in defeat.  Serena didn't notice, still
too dazed from the kiss.

"Now," Darien said, "What's going on?"

Lita started, "A fight!  Finally!"

"Where?" Darien said intently, all laughter banished from his
expression.  The quietness of the last few months had been making him
edgy, even if it did give him more time with Serena.

"There isn't a fight yet," Amy said softly.  "So far, all we have is
feelings, and a slight trace on my computer.  But it looks like the
Negaverse again."

"The Negaverse?!" Darien asked.  "I thought you had destroyed them!"

"Actually, so did I," Serena agreed as she finally came out of the daze
Darien's kiss had thrown her into.

"You killed Beryl, true, but she was not the entire Negaverse," Luna put
in.

Artemis seconded her, "We've known for some time that part of the
Negaverse was still around. We just felt that they would be fighting
among themselves for a long while longer."

"You knew and you didn't tell us?" Mina asked.  "Artemis, I thought you
told me everything!"

"Well, not 'everything'," Artemis admitted, taking obvious pains 'not'
to look at Luna.  "Besides, until they came to Earth, there was nothing
we could do."  He wondered why the girls were giggling and the boys
giving him sympathetic looks.  He looked behind him to see Luna stalking
him with a very disgruntled expression and managed to get from the
ground to the top of Mina's head in one jump.

Everyone was laughing at the interplay between the cats.  The laughter
got louder as Mina reached up and pulled Artemis off of her head and
dropped him right in front of Luna.  "You deserve this," she said
sweetly as she left him for Luna.

"I suppose he's right though. We couldn't go into the Negaverse after
them," Lita said, looking annoyed.

"Who says we should?" Travis asked.

"What do you mean?" Raye asked for everyone.

"Well, we know Queen Beryl and her generals were evil, although from
what I understand one of them turned good before he died," Travis began.

"Yes, Neflite," Serena said, "Molly still misses him a lot."

"Well, just because most of the ones you met were evil, doesn't mean
everybody who lives there is," Travis continued.  "Maybe the evil ones
got control, so they were the only ones allowed through the gate."

"But Mother locked all the evil people in the Negaverse," Serena
explained, "so of course they were all evil or Mother wouldn't have put
them there."

"Did she?" Travis asked.

"Of course she put only bad people there. Why would she put good people
there?" Serena asked, confused.

"I mean, did she actually choose who would be locked in the Negaverse,
or were there already people in there that got locked up with Beryl and
the Generals?"

Serena opened her mouth to answer and then closed it, the others looked
much the same.  Even Luna and Artemis settled down and tried to think of
an answer to that question.

Raye finally answered.  "Does it matter?  We didn't go into the
Negaverse after them, and we can't do it now, so there's no need to even
ask the question.  If they attack us on Earth, we're going to fight. If
they don't, we won't.  I believe they will though, the reading I got was
too strong for there not to be a new attack soon."

"But there isn't one right now, is there?" Serena asked.

"No," Amy said, "the traces are too faint for there to be a youma in the
city right now."

"I agree, it's not coming that soon," Raye reluctantly agreed.

"Then I need to talk to Darien, I'll see you later."  With that, Serena
grabbed Darien's arm and towed him down the temple steps.

"Serena!" Raye yelled after her.  "Oh, what's the use?"

"Don't be too hard on her," Travis chuckled, "she's going to have a
really bad night."

"What do you mean?" Mina was the one to ask it this time.

"Oh, just that her parents have decided it's high time they met Darien,
and she's supposed to bring him to dinner tonight," Travis said.

Raye grinned maliciously.


Darien grinned slightly as he allowed himself to be pulled along be
Serena.  The grin faded gradually as he noticed Serena wasn't chattering
at him like she usually did.  However, he stayed silent until they
reached the park.

"Serena, what's wrong?" he asked quietly as she started pacing
agitatedly in front of him.

"Wrong?  What could possibly be wrong?" she asked in a nervous voice,
not looking at him.

"That's what I want to know," he said as he walked over to her.

"I mean, besides the fact that Mom and Dad want you to come to dinner
tonight, what could be wrong?" Serena babbled.  "Oh Darien!" she wailed,
"What if they don't like you?  What if they say I can't go out with you
anymore?  What if Daddy attacks you or has a heart attack or throws you
out of the house for being too old for me?  What if..."

"Serena," Darien soothed, "it will be all right.  You know nothing can
separate us now."

"Not forever," Serena agreed, leaning into his hug.  "But they could
separate us for years.  You know how my father is!  He's almost rabid
about my going out with boys.  What if we can't convince him that we
love each other?  What if..."

Darien silenced her in the most effective way possible.  When they were
finally able to talk again he said, "No more 'what ifs', my sweet.
Everything will work out, you'll see.  But I had better go if I want to
be presentable this evening.  What time?"

It took several repeats of that question before Serena was finally able
to answer it.  "Oh, um... seven," she finally blurted out.  "And Travis
and Uncle Jake are going to be there too."

"Well, at least I'll have a little support," he smiled slightly.
Looking down at her strained face he continued, "It 'will' be okay.
You'll see." He dropped a kiss on her forehead and spoke over his
shoulder as he was leaving.  "Tell your mother I'm delighted at the
invitation and will certainly be there.  Does she know Travis and Jake
are coming?"

"Of course she..." Serena started to call in answer.  Then her eyes went
wide.  "Oh, no!" she cried, "I forgot to ask her!  Bye!" she yelled as
she ran towards her house.


In another place, far away, and yet not so far, a man stood watching the
drill of an army of monsters.  He was gray skinned, with hair shades
darker, matching exactly the unadorned gray uniform he wore.  The only
color in this gray man was his blazing yellow eyes. "Emperor Rhyolite,"
a voice came from behind him, startling him.  In an even flow, the man
turned, his sword almost instantly in his hand and pointing at the neck
of the young woman standing behind him.

"I have warned you about doing that, Quartz," he said sharply.

"I forgot," she shrugged, unconcerned.

"One of these days, your forgetting is going to get your head taken from
your shoulders.  You know how tense it is around here lately with all of
those assassination attempts," Emperor Rhyolite said as he turned to
watch the drilling again.

"I know, Father, but I still don't believe that this is the best way to
get them to stop," Quartz said, going up to lean next to her father.

"Quartz!" Rhyolite almost yelled before getting control of herself.
"You know not to do that either!  No one must know you're my daughter,
or they'll try to kill you, too."

"Don't worry, Father," Quartz replied, "There's no one close enough to
hear, and I checked for bugs and scrying spells before I first spoke to
you.  No one can hear."

"I should have known," he muttered to himself.

"Yes, you should have," Quartz agreed, smiling very slightly.  "You did
teach me always to be thorough.  You haven't answered my question yet
though."

"It wasn't really a question," Rhyolite replied, "And if you can think
of a better, why haven't you said anything before now?"

"You know I can't," Quartz responded in a disgusted tone.  "I know the
troops need someone to fight or they'll attack each other, but to attack
the Earth!"

"And most of all, to put Spessarite in charge, correct?" Rhyolite
answered.

"Correct!  There are any number of Generals that would be better at
gathering energy to open the portal.  You know he's not going to be
content with just gathering energy quietly.  He's going to do it openly,
causing as much terror as he can, in the hopes that the Sailor Scouts
will show up.  Then they will, and they'll destroy his youmas and we
won't get the energy! If we're going to do it, we at least need to do it
smart!"

"And what do you mean by doing it smart?" he questioned intently.

"We need to collect energy from a number of people at once, and then not
enough so that they'll feel they've been drained.  Never pull enough
energy that they'll collapse, that's a sure sign that it's us doing it.
You know, gather a little off the top at concerts, parties, amusement
parks, places where they'll expect to go home feeling drained."

"You've been thinking about this, and it seems the intelligence
department is working as well as ever," Rhyolite responded.

"Of course I've thought about this.  Father, you know how Spessarite
will screw it up!  You've got to put someone else in charge!" Quartz
was almost pleading.

"I can't, Daughter," he said extremely quietly.  "Spessarite leads the
biggest faction.  If I don't give him this assignment, his people will
rebel.  The others will follow.  This war is the only thing that is
keeping the Generals from going at each other's throats again.  We have
had too much of civil war as it is.  We could not survive another one."

"Why did you ever have to be proclaimed 'Emperor'?" Quartz asked
despairingly.  "Life was so much less complicated before.  All we had to
worry about was Beryl killing you for your strange ideas of leading men
or because you were one of the Nals.  The only reason she didn't was
because you always won."

"Someone had to take over," Rhyolite said, "Better me than someone like
Spessarite."

"I suppose that's true," Quartz said contemplatively.  "But you don't
mind if I hope the Sailor Scouts will kill..." her voice trailed off.
"That's what you hope too, isn't it?" she said in amazement.  "You know
how he'll be, you 'want' the Sailor Scouts to kill him, don't you?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Rhyolite asked mock gravely.

Quartz wasn't listening.  "Once he dies, you can proclaim that Earth has
taken too many of our best generals, and it will be best if we hold off
on the war against them until we're stronger."  Quartz's voice was still
filled with shock as she turned to her father and bowed.
"Congratulations Father, I had no idea you had it in you."

"You had to get your cleverness somewhere," Rhyolite grinned.  "Still,
if it doesn't work, we're going to have to think up a way to defeat the
Sailor Scouts.  There is no other way I can put it off."

"I'm pretty sure I do know a way," Quartz said softly.  "But if I hadn't
learned about this plan of yours, I never would have told you."

"I know," Rhyolite agreed, "I have no idea where you got that sense of
honor."

"Oh, I think you do," Quartz grinned.  She checked around to make sure
no one was watching, then stood up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.  "You
know, when you come right down to it, you're a very bad evil emperor."

"Maybe that's what the Negaverse needs at the moment."

"Maybe it is," Quartz murmured.  "I'll see you later."

"Next time announce yourself first, okay?" he called after her.

"Maybe!" she yelled back.

The youma who had been clinging above the balcony looked around
carefully to make sure it was still unseen and then scurried off to tell
his master the conversation he had just heard.


After running to tell her mother about their extra guests, Serena had
rushed upstairs to get dressed.  She wanted to look nice for Darien, and
yet didn't want an outfit that would cause her father to growl.  Luna,
who had come in after handling Artemis was forced to watch a fashion
show as Serena tried on outfit after outfit and discarded them all.

"Too young.  Too old.  Too plain.  Oh Dad would have a fit over this
one, bet Darien would like it though, hmm Luna?  Way too casual.  I
don't have anything to wear!" she wailed.

Her mother walked into the room.  "What's the matter dear?"

"I don't have anything to wear!  Dad would have a fit over most of
these, and who would want to wear the rest of them?"  Serena seemed
about to burst into tears while her mother smiled in understanding.

"You seemed to like them when you bought them," she said gently.

"That's different!  That's for other things.  This is special and I need
something special to wear!"  Serena seemed about to go into a full
wailing fit.

Her mother briefly reflected how rare they were getting but couldn't
help but wish they were a bit rarer.  "What about this?" she asked,
holding up a white dress.

"But that's so boring!" Serena exclaimed.

"Not if we do it right," she explained.

Hours later, the doorbell rang.  Serena raced down the stairs to answer
it.  Her smile was bright, if a bit nervous as she opened the door.  She
collapsed in relief for an instant as she realized it was only Darien
Jacobson, not Darien Chiba.

"Hi Uncle Jake, come on in," she bubbled, putting her happy expression
back on.

"Thank you, Serena.  You look very nice tonight," he said sincerely.

"Do you really think so?" she asked, twirling in front of him.  She was
dressed in the white dress and had used an extremely long pink scarf as
the belt, collected in a bow in the back, the ends just reaching the
bottom of the skirt.  A pearl bracelet graced one arm, while a pink
watch she never seemed without was on the other.  Pearl barrettes and a
pink choker completed the outfit.

"I do indeed," Jake agreed, stepping in and saying hello to the rest of
the Tsukino's.

The doorbell rang again and Serena raced to open the door.  Travis stood
on the other side.  He looked at her for a minute.  "I thought you
weren't going to interfere," he said, pointing at his uncle's car in the
driveway.

"I never said that," Serena argued, pulling him into the house.

"That's how it sounded to me," Travis resisted the pull.

"Then you should have listened more closely," Serena smiled, gave a
yank, and pulled him into the house.

He gave up and followed her as she led him towards the living room.  She
pushed him inside and motioned to her parents to leave after they said
hello.  She slammed the door and leaned against it.  "You two aren't
getting out of there until you talk this out!" she yelled through the
door.

The doorbell rang again and Serena started to bolt towards it.  She then
remembered her self-imposed duty of making sure Travis and Uncle Jake
worked things out.  She glanced at the front door and then the door to
the living room.  As she stood there undecided, her mother walked toward
the front door and opened it.  Serena walked back and leaned on the
living room door again while keeping both ears and eyes trained on the
conversation at the front door.

Darien's eyes immediately went towards her as her mother opened the
door.  Serena smiled nervously at him and Darien smiled back
reassuringly.  Her mother watched this with a smile of her own.
Darien's eyes went back to the woman in front of him.

"Hello Mrs. Tsukino," Darien said, "Thank you for inviting me to your
house."

"You're welcome, Darien isn't it?" Mrs. Tsukino said, leading him into
the house.

"Yes Ma'am, Darien Chiba.  I hope you'll accept this token of my
appreciation," he said, handing her a bouquet of red roses.

Mrs. Tsukino oohed over the hostess gift.  "I'll put them straight into
a vase.  Thank you, Darien, this was very thoughtful," she said, leaving
him in the hall with her daughter and husband.  As she passed the
latter, she whispered, "And he's well mannered too."

"Humph," was all Mr. Tsukino said to that as he walked toward the young
man.  His reaction was not nearly as favorable.  *This is a college
student!  Why is he hanging around my innocent daughter?  He's way too
old for her, and I'm going to tell him so!*  At that moment he caught
his daughter's pleading eyes, and knew he couldn't send him away
immediately.  *But as soon as this dinner is over, I'm going to make
sure he doesn't see her again!*

Darien braced himself as Serena's father came up to him.  He noticed the
way Mr. Tsukino was glaring at him and expected an immediate demand to
get out of the house.  He was surprised when Mr. Tsukino only growled a
hello.

Mr. Tsukino was about to start grilling Darien when his wife's voice
came out of the kitchen.  "Honey?  Will you hold off on asking the young
man any questions until dinner please?  I think we would all like to
hear the answers."  Mr. Tsukino walked away grumbling.

Darien was looking at his girlfriend and his eyes gleamed at how pretty
she looked.  He raised his eyebrow to ask why she hadn't come to say
hello and her lips quirked into a grin as she looked at the door she was
resting against.  He remembered the car he had seen outside and nodded
his understanding.

Mr. Tsukino noticed the silent communication going on between the two,
and knew it was not something that could happen overnight.  He almost
growled protectively.

Inside the living room, Travis and Jake had stood silently for a long
moment before they both started speaking.

"I'm sorry I..." "I didn't mean..."

They laughed uneasily for a second, and then Jake nodded at Travis to go
first.

Travis took a deep breath.  "I'm sorry I yelled at you this afternoon. I
guess you just hit a sore spot."

"I know," Jake said, "I knew as soon as I said the word.  I didn't mean
it like that, Travis.  You could never be a responsibility to me.  I'm
staying home because I 'want' to, not because I have to.  I want to
spend more time with you.  And before you say anything about my being
bored without a job, I've decided to try to do a story on the Sailor
Scouts."

Travis' eyes immediately shuttered and he tried hard to keep the smile
he had had since he heard and believed what his guardian was saying
about wanting to stay home with him.  "The Sailor Scouts?" he asked, "I
don't think they've been seen for the last couple of months, have they?"

"No, and that's one of the reasons I want to do a story on them.  Why
haven't they shown up?  Why do they fight, and what are those monsters?
Who were the new Scouts that showed up just before they disappeared? I'm
really excited about this.  Don't you want to find out who they are?"

"Not particularly.  I'm just glad they're here and leave it at that.
They might not appreciate someone trying to find out their secrets."
Travis was trying desperately to think of a story that might be more
interesting or a reason his guardian would accept for not doing that
story.  He couldn't think of anything.  *He wouldn't print anything
about our real identities, would he?  If he found out it was me and
Serena, he'd drop it, wouldn't he? Wouldn't he?*  Although his heart was
yelling 'Of course he would' his mind told him he couldn't be sure.  He
decided to wait and watch.

Jake sniffed the air.  "It smells like dinner is ready, are we made up
yet, so we can go eat?"

Travis forced a laugh.  "I think so," he agreed.

Jake went over and opened the door.  He jumped back quickly as Serena,
who had been leaning against it, crashed to the floor.

Serena screwed up her face and opened her mouth to wail, before
remembering that she needed to act mature in front of her father
tonight.  Wailing would not be a good way of convincing her father that
she was old enough to have a boyfriend.

"Didn't you know that the door opened inward?" Travis asked, laughing as
he picked her up.  Darien was there at her other side as well.  Travis
spoke so both of them could hear but his guardian couldn't.  "We've got
a problem, I'm calling a Scout meeting first thing tomorrow morning.
You too Darien."

"But Travis, tomorrow's Saturday!" Serena whined quietly, visions of her
being forced out of bed before noon floating through her head.

"It's an emergency Serena!  Nine o'clock tomorrow morning at the
temple." Travis looked directly into her eyes until she agreed.  Darien
gave a calm nod as Travis looked at him.

Jake wondered what they were talking about so intently, but Mrs.
Tsukino's voice calling them to dinner came at that moment.  They
separated and walked into the dining room.  Sammy, who had been playing
in his room until then, was already seated at the table.  Mrs. Tsukino
had placed Darien next to Serena, and Mr. Tsukino growled when he saw
that.

As soon as they started eating, Mr. Tsukino started in.  "Just what are
your intentions towards my daughter, young man?"

Darien thought about it for less then a second.  "Honorable.  I intend
to marry her when she's old enough."

Serena smiled in delight but Mr. Tsukino continued to glare.  "Don't you
think she's a little young for you?"

"I don't think age really matters," Darien answered steadily.  "Not when
love is involved."

"She's a little young to know what love is, don't you think?  Aren't you
really taking advantage of her by convincing her she loves you when she
hasn't had a chance to love anyone?"

"Daddy!" Serena's voice cut through the silence.  "Darien has never
tried to convince me that I love him!  I'm the one that's had to do the
convincing!"

Darien put his hand over Serena's to silence her.  "Serena knows more of
love then I do, she's had it all of her life.  Are you telling me you
never showed her any love, so that she wouldn't know it when she feels
it?  The only way Serena could not know what love is, is if it was never
shown to her, or she had never felt it.  And she has more love in her
than anyone I have ever met."

Mr. Tsukino took a moment to eat and regather his thoughts.  He hadn't
expected that strong a defense.  He decided to take another track.  "All
I'm saying, is that she's a little young for you to be so sure.  I think
it might be best if you didn't see each other for a while to try to get
a perspective."  He expected a whining fit from his daughter over that.
He didn't get one.

"No way!" Serena shouted, rising from her chair and leaning over the
table.  "There is 'no way' we are going to separate for a while.
Especially not for my own good!  We went through that!  I've had him
break up with me before because he thought he was protecting me.  Never
again!  We were both absolutely miserable, and I will not allow you to
do that to me again!  I love Darien, Father, and you need to get used to
the idea because we will eventually be married.  We are not planning on
doing anything soon, I promise you that.  But I will not stop seeing
him, or allow you to make us.  Do you understand?"

Everyone was staring at her in shock.  The adults and Sammy had never
seen her like this before.  Travis and Darien had, but only when
protecting her daughter.  She was obviously ready to fight anyone and
everyone that would try to come between them.

Darien stood up and put his hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her
back to her chair.  She reached up to hold his hand as he stood behind
her.  "Mr. Tsukino, I do agree with Serena. We're not going to let
anyone separate us again.  It's not truly the difference in our ages
that you object to, is it?"

Mr. Tsukino was still in shock over the way his daughter had talked to
him, so his wife stepped in.  "What do you mean, Darien?  What else
could he be objecting to?"

"Her age," he answered gently.  "If we were ten years older, no one
would think anything of a thirty-one year old dating a twenty-five year
old, would there?"

"No, that would be considered a good match," Serena's mother agreed,
understanding what he was saying.

"But she's only fifteen!" Mr. Tsukino had finally gotten his voice back.

"But she promised, and so do I, that nothing is going to happen for
years.  We are not going to get married until 'she's' ready, and if that
means not until after college, then so be it.  I can wait, as long as I
know that no one is going to try to separate us again."  Darien spoke
sincerely, and looking into his eyes, Mr. Tsukino could see he meant
every word he said.

He sighed, the wind taken out of his sails.  He couldn't argue with the
united front the two had put up and looking into his daughter's
determined eyes, he wondered for a second what she would do if he did
refuse to allow them to date.  He realized in shock that he didn't want
to find out.  His daughter had grown up and he had refused to see it.

Darien sat back down and silence surrounded the table.

Jake broke it.  "I hope I don't have to go through that with you," he
said quietly to Travis.

"Oh, don't worry," Serena said absently, "his girlfriend's his own age."

"Oh really?" Jake said, looking at his ward, "and who is she?"

"Yes, who is she?" Mrs. Tsukino asked, "You haven't told us about any
girlfriend!"

"That's because I don't have one!" Travis denied.

"What about Crystal?" Serena asked mischievously.

"That's that new girl at your school, isn't it?" Sammy asked, having
been warned 'very' strongly ahead of time about butting in during the
questioning.  "I've seen you around with her."

"She's not my girlfriend!  She's just a friend, that's all!" Travis said
desperately.

"Methinks he doth protest too much," Jake teased.  He looked at his
watch.  "Thank you for the delicious dinner, but I forgot I have a
meeting about the story I'm planning.  I'll see you at home, Travis.
I'll see the rest of you later."  He grabbed his coat and raced out of
the house.

"Bye," Mrs. Tsukino called after him, slightly stunned over how fast he
had moved.

"What's the new story about, Travis?" Mr. Tsukino asked, finally getting
back into the conversation.

"He wants to do a story on the Sailor Scouts," Travis admitted.  Serena
and Darien looked at him sharply and he nodded very slightly.

"Oh, neat!" Sammy exclaimed, "Maybe he'll find out who they are!"

"Maybe he will," Travis answered grimly.

As the conversation turned to the Sailor Scouts, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Sammy yelled, jumping from his seat and running to the
front door.

Serena, Darien, and Travis were trying to show the proper enjoyment of
the conversation when Serena's head jerked up.  As the others stared at
her, she shoved her chair back and stood up.  Without seeming to pay
attention to anything, she walked towards the door.  The others quieted
and listened.  They could hear a faint wailing noise getting louder.
Suddenly the door of the room slammed open and a pink haired little
girl, dressed in pajamas and clutching a doll and kitten, ran into the
room.

"Mommy!" she cried.  Sobbing, she threw herself into the arms of Serena
who had bent down to catch her.

------------------
Oh, I just love leaving off in places like that (can you think of a better?)
I'm sure you've noticed by now that this takes place about three months
after the end of Universal.

How are they going to explain 'this' to her parents?  What are the Scouts
going to do about Jake?  And what is Spessarite up to?  Just three of many
questions that will be answered in Chapter Two.

Remember, write and tell me what you thought.  Jendra@aol.com