Mina Furuhata changed her pose for what had to be the thousandth time that day. She stifled a sigh, smiled, and pretended to have fun.
It was not like she did not enjoy being a model, and occasionally an actress, but pretending to be someone spectacular just was not the same as being spectacular. She was still, even at the age of forty, playing Sailor V in the movies. It was fun, sometimes, to pretend to be a super hero, but it just was not the same as being a super hero. Mina was sometimes tempted to just transform and vaporize all the "evil monsters", instead of having to choreograph moves for hours on end, but she knew that it was not possible to do that. She had made a pact with her friends exactly twenty-two years ago that none of them would transform until the end of the world had begun. So far, there was no sign of the end.
"Mrs. Furuhata!" Her exasperated photographer said.
"Yes, Macchina?"
"I have been calling your name for a while now!"
"Oh, I'm sorry! I just spaced out... but what was it that you wanted?"
"Would you please stop your watch from beeping? It is disturbing my concentration!"
"My watch? Beeping?"
"Yes! Your watch is beeping!"
Mina looked at the watch on her wrist that had an orange band.
"Oh my goodness!" Mina said, her hand flying to her mouth. "I'll be right back!" She said, running off the little stage to the back room where her husband waited for her.
"You're done already?"
"No, Andrew. My watch is beeping."
Andrew Furuhata stared at his wife for a moment, before understanding dawned in his eyes.
Mina pushed the button that opened the watch into a communicator, and then she pressed the little orange crystal, and listened.
Silence.
A heavy sigh.
"Here we go again! And this time I am way too old to do this!"
"That was Serena." Andrew stated.
"Yes, it was, which means that it is time to go back."
Andrew nodded.
"What will we tell Selena and Dior?" Andrew said, referring to their daughter, who they had named after Serena, and their son.
"Nothing. We just go."
Andrew gave her "the look".
"Hey! We just can't tell them the end is coming. We just can't tell them who I am, and what I need to do! They wouldn't understand, not yet."
"If that is what you think is right, then okay."
"Good, then lets get out of here!"
The two ran out of the building, hand-in-hand, leaving behind a confused photographer.
That night, the family was on a plane, heading for Japan.
Back to Chapter Four
Chapter Six
