ose couldn’t sleep that night. Thoughts of her past and her goals as a Sailor Scout filed her mind. What if she was worthless as a scout because Darien was actually the warrior of Earth? Rose shivered at the thought, pulling the covers tightly around her. Comet, who was cuddled up next to her, mewed at the sudden movement and rolled on his back. Rose looked up at the ceiling, wondering if she should close her eyes. Suppose if Pearl’s forces got her while she slept? Rose couldn’t bear to think about that. The last thing she wanted to do was be in the clutches of an enemy. That was not only embarrassing; that was dangerous! Rose thought regretfully. Staring at the clock, Rose groaned. 2:00 A.M, and she wasn’t even asleep. Without rest, she’d be exhausted at school the next day. Rose moaned and turned over onto her side, pressing her ear into her long brown hair. She was about to get up and take some kind of medication, but the thought of getting addicted to sleeping pills made her stop. All of a sudden, a slow, haunting song filled her ears. A soft, soothing voice was singing in words she did not understand, but it blended into a calming tune. Rose’s eyelids drooped as she began to relax and was almost asleep when a verse in English was sung: Bold Earth queen Phoenix of light An angel of the sky A warrior of nature And princess of war A union of love and power Rose fell asleep before hearing all of it. Four days later... "Friday at long, long last!" Rose cried happily, rushing out of her band class and meeting up with Phoebe. Phoebe grinned. "You’re excited about the dance, aren’t you?" Rose giggled as she opened her locker. Three days had seemed like weeks or maybe months, but school was out for the weekend and she had a formal dance to look forward to, a night with Sonny. She smiled gleefully, stuffing her books into her bag and slamming her locker door shut. "I guess that giggle of yours answers my question. You’re really sweet on him," Phoebe laughed. Rose blushed as she and Phoebe walked down the hallway. "Well, maybe. But don’t tell him or anybody else." "I promise," Phoebe agreed. The two continued down the hall to the door, chatting about what they’d wear. Phoebe was going with a boy named Alex, a tall, basketball player with orange hair. Now Rose and Phoebe talked about dresses, pants, and other possibilities of good outfits. "Mom says she could lend me her old orange-red dress," Phoebe boasted. "It’s all pretty and such." "I have a dress too...it’s kind of worn out, but it’s nice. It’s green, with short sleeves," Rose retorted, but she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She didn’t want to wear her old, tattered green dress. But it was the only dress she had, and she really wanted a dress to wear. Phoebe saw her worried expression. "I’ve got a blue dress. It’s shiny and satiny and sleeveless. If you don’t want to wear that old green one, I can lend it to you." By this time they were a few blocks away from the school, and Rose hugged Phoebe, grinning. "Thanks, Pho!" she cried. Phoebe smiled and the two girls linked arms. They walked down the sidewalk, chatting about school and the dance. Once they reached the intersection where they split, Rose’s light brown eyes looked towards Phoebe. She let go of the redhead’s arm. "So, can you have your mom bring over the dress?" Rose asked. "As you know, the dance is at the old gym at the Junior High School, and I need a ride. Sonny and Alex are meeting us there, right?" "Right. See you at 6:00," Phoebe called, striding away. Rose stood there, waiting for the walk light to change. As she did so, she saw a young man standing at the other side. He had dark brown hair that had a tendency to blow in his face whenever the slightest breeze hit, and his eyes were dark...so dark that (maybe because of the distance) Rose couldn’t tell if they were brown or black. He wore glasses, and light reflected off the lenses. The man wore a white jacket and jeans, and his dark eyes were aimed right at Rose. The light changed and, her book bag thumping against her leg, Rose made her way across. As the man passed, they exchanged a quick look and then headed off in separate directions. Some feeling in Rose’s gut told her that she’d be seeing that man again. It was a feeling of interest...a tad of worry...and perhaps a bit of amusement. Rose reached her house and, setting her book bag by the door, grabbed her straw hat and trowel. She pulled on her gloves and walked to a patch of weeds threateningly growing by her dying patch of flowers. Rose smiled at the growing pumpkins but scowled at the weeds, and with a sudden fury began shoveling near the weeds’ roots. She dug her trowel hard into the dirt and wrenched up the plants. Comet pranced towards her, and she looked up and grinned at her pet. He sat down, calmly licking his brown fur, as she tugged the last weed out of the ground and wiped her brow with her gloved hand. She set down the trowel and patted Comet on the head. "Hey, what am I, a drum?" Comet hissed. "I am not patting you that hard," Rose giggled, taking up the trowel again and standing up, scanning the earth for more weeds. "So, the dance is tonight, huh?" Comet questioned, walking after her. Rose, her braid swishing behind her, walked towards another patch of weeds and started digging furiously. She turned to the brown cat, whose face was showing an expression that clearly meant "are you going to answer my question or not?" "Yes, the dance is tonight," she answered. Then she saw another look on his face. "And I can’t sneak you over, sorry," she added quickly. "I’m still coming," Comet mewed. "A dance is a place to gather energy from many humans, and a Negaverse enemy would take that as an advantage. I have to look out for trouble." Rose sighed heavily, unearthing a weed by the roots. "Well, if you keep a distance so that people don’t get suspicious of your symbol, that’s fine." Comet nodded and replied, "Don’t worry. I won’t have anyone notice me. I’m just worried that Pearl’s going to send out one of her youmas." Rose lowered her eyes solemnly, fingering her necklace. Then she heard a distant phone ring. She quickly got up and rushed inside, dropping her trowel, gloves, and straw hat on the table. Just as the third ring sounded, Rose snatched up the phone and pressed it tightly to her ear. "Hello?" Rose gasped out. "May I please speak to Rose Opal?" "This is Rose speaking. Amara?" "How did you know it was me?" the deep, soft voice inquired. "I recognized your voice," Rose answered, twirling her finger nervously in the wire. She hadn’t forgotten Amara’s strange flirting. "I was wondering if tomorrow we could look over some pieces for the festival in November," Amara said, not noticing Rose’s discomfort. "Well..." Rose thought for a while. "Could I give you my address so you could pick me up? You see, I live alone and..." "I know," Amara interrupted. "I’ve learned a little bit about you ever since Serena told me about...you know.." Amara cleared her throat. "I can give you a ride. What’s your address?" Rose quickly explained, hearing scratches of pen on paper at the other end. When she finished, she once again heard Amara’s voice. "So, tomorrow, at 8:15 AM, I’ll give you a ride," Amara summarized. "Right," Rose agreed. "See you tomorrow." "Bye." Rose hung up the phone with a click, slid on her gloves, placed her hat on her head, and, picking up the trowel, walked outside again. Meanwhile... Pearl paced impatiently around the room, frequently stopping and listening for any sound of footsteps. Any minute now Orion would be arriving with the new Dark Sailor Scout, and she wanted to see the child’s progress. The girl had been walking home from school when Orion had snatched her and transformed her. Now Pearl waited for her brother impatiently, scowling. She eagerly jumped as she heard clicking footsteps down the hall. Her silver white-haired brother stepped in, followed by the scout dressed in a lime green and turquoise fuku. The scout’s green eyes had a strange, dazed glaze over them, as if she was blind. But she looked around the room, clutching her black rod tightly with both of her gloved hands. Pearl couldn’t help but notice that her brother looked pained, a sorrowful expression flitting over his face once in a while. He bowed in head in respect to his sister. Pearl, straightening her long black skirt, stepped to him and kissed him on the cheek. He hesitantly gave her a kiss on the forehead. Then Pearl turned to the scout. "How is training going, Sailor Dark Nature?" she questioned. "Very well, mistress," Sailor Dark Nature automatically responded, bobbing her head in respect. "Is what she said true?" Pearl demanded, her eyes blazing at Orion. "Absolutely true, my sister," Orion said, his voice a mixture of formality and grief. Pearl chose to ignore it and keep talking with Sailor Dark Nature. "You’ve learned your attacks, correct?" Sailor Dark Nature nodded. "Good," Pearl smiled wickedly. "Very good. Quick, Orion, get her out of her transformation and erase all memories of training from her brain. According to my sources, Irene is supposed to go to a dance tonight." "Before I go, I have a question," Orion informed. "Have you released Rage and Vengeance?" "I released them two days ago and sent them to start training the new youma who is going to carry out the next plan. Now go before I lose my temper," Pearl snarled. "Yes, Pearl," Orion rushed out, pushing Sailor Dark Nature out of sight. Back to Rose... It was 5:58, and Rose was growing anxious. Phoebe was supposed to come and help her get dressed and then her mother would take them to the dance in time (the dance started at 6:30. Rose couldn’t help being excited when the doorbell rang. She leaped to her feet, forgetting that Comet was resting in her lap, and swung open the door. Phoebe, with two boxes under her arm, stepped in. "Mom says she can wait while we get changed. I said we had to take a while since we have about a half an hour left," Phoebe said happily, following Rose and an irritated Comet up the stairs. Rose opened the door and Phoebe stepped in, setting the boxes down on the bed. Rose enthusiastically plopped down on the bed, acting like the boxes were presents on Christmas day and she was a small child waiting to open them. Comet curled up on her pillow, muttering, "Girls" as Phoebe lifted up the lid of one of the boxes. "This is the dress I’m wearing," she informed, holding up a beautiful short-sleeved orange-red dress. The skirt swished as she twirled around. Rose clapped and giggled. "And this," Phoebe continued, opening the second box, "is the one you’re borrowing." "Oh!" Rose exclaimed, taking the dress out of the box. The dress was light blue, the skirt wide and flowing. The bodice looked the right size to fit her, and the dress shone as the lamplight hit it. Rose stood up, holding the dress to her body and grinning. Phoebe smiled as Rose spun around. "Go on! Get dressed! I want to see you in it!" Phoebe exclaimed, clapping her hands. Rose’s eyes darted to Comet, back to Phoebe, down to her dress, and back to Phoebe again. Both girls laughed, Comet scowling in the background. He mewed angrily and rolled on his side, his face looking towards the wall. He sent Phoebe and Rose a look, as if saying, "I’m not peeking" and then turned to see the wall again. "You close your eyes too," Rose commanded Phoebe. Phoebe obeyed, shutting her eyes. There was a rustling of cloth and the sounds of zippers zipping and unzipping. Comet meowed impatiently as drawers slammed shut and noises of a brush scratching through hair notified that Rose was almost ready. "Ok! You can look now." Comet and Phoebe both looked over and stared in astonishment. Rose was wearing the blue dress, which beautifully fit her figure, and she wore a pair of black low-heeled shoes. Her normal braid was undone and flowing, two flowered clips buttoned in her hair over her ears. The finishing touches were a pair of flower earrings and the Earth charm necklace around her neck. "You look...nice," Comet gasped out, his mouth hanging open. "Close your mouth, you silly cat, before you swallow your tongue," Rose replied, laughing. Comet did so. "Thank you for the compliment." "My turn to change," Phoebe said, grinning. "But I’ll change in the bathroom." After five minutes, Phoebe emerged into the room again. She too looked lovely, her orange red dress twirling with each turn and step, and her wavy red hair done in an elegant bun. The Phoenix brooch was fastened at her neck, catching the collar. Light reflected off the ruby. Phoebe had finished off the look with a pair of white slippers. "Well...I...you ladies are ready to go, I presume? It is, after all, 6:15," Comet stammered. "You took a long time." "Well, let’s get moving," Phoebe agreed. The two girls headed down the stairs, Comet following them. As soon as they leaped into the car, Comet ducked under the seat. Mrs. Martin started up a light chitchat as the car sped off. While this was going on, a lone shadow stood outside the building, hidden in the bushes. Its red eyes gleamed, watching happy couples of Junior High and Senior High aged kids enter the building. Pale fingers rubbed against the leaves in anticipation, and a tongue flickered over ruby lips. The thing tried to restrain its hunger for human energy, running its fingers through its green hair. A green tunic bedecked its white body. These energy-filled humans...the female demon tried to suppress its revolting hunger. After all, a flower demon had to eat when huge amounts of humans were gathered. The flower demon’s toes curled and uncurled, the green leaves on her tunic fluttering in the soft breeze. Her pointed ears perked up when she heard a voice speak. The voice chilled her to the bone, for she hated the sound of voices full of human emotions. "Hi, Sonny! You’re looking wonderful!" Another horrifying voice responded, making the flower demon cringe. This time the human voice was male. "You look lovely, Miss Opal," the male voice laughed. "Why hello, Phoebe. Alex is inside, deciding if he should have some punch or not." A laugh. the flower demon thought, her red eyes flashing. Then footsteps as the owners of the awful voices entered the building. After a few more groups of people, the doors shut tightly. The flower demon grinned, her teeth pointed and sharp. "Finally I can satisfy my hunger...and Mistress Pearl will be pleased when I bring her the weak bodies of those delicious energy-filled Sailor Scouts!" she cackled. Soon... Inside the building, Rose had to shout to make Sonny hear what she was saying. Her partner was dressed in a short-sleeved blue shirt and formal black pants. He scowled at occasional girls who wore tight clothes and boys who acted crazy in order to get the girls’ attention. Then he brought his eyes back to Rose, who was steering him towards a group near the corner. Rose spotted Darien, who was holding on to the arm of a particularly eager Serena. Serena was wearing a pink dress, and she was giggling madly. Mina was flirting with Andrew, who was trying his best to ignore her and to keep listening to Lita, who was talking to him and trying to gain his attention. Rei stood next to Serena, occasionally frowning whenever Serena got too overexcited, and Amy, wearing a white gown, was cowering in a corner with a book. "Hi, Darien! Hi, Serena! Hi, everyone!" Rose greeted, waving. Lita immediately bounced up and rushed over to greet the two couples, Andrew at her heels. Mina hurried after Andrew, and Amy, smiling, set down her book and timidly stepped forward. Serena practically dragged Darien over, leaving Rei with a scowl on her face. "Hi, Rose, hi Sonny, hi Alex, hi Phoebe," Lita let out in one breath. "Great to see you!" "You all look very nice," Phoebe complimented, gazing at Amy’s slim body in the white dress and how Rei’s red dress occasionally swept the floor gracefully. "You too," returned Mina, looking at Phoebe’s orange-red dress. "I’ve starved! Anyone want to get something to eat?" Serena asked eagerly. "You meatball head! You’ll stuff yourself so much that you won’t be able to fit into that dress!" Rei snapped. Serena looked ready to burst into tears. Rose quickly jerked herself out of Sonny’s arms (leaving him with a rather injured look on his face) and ran to the blonde girl’s side. "Um, I’m a bit hungry too. I’ll just get some punch or something," Rose informed, smiling at Serena and linking her arm with hers. Leaving an astonished Rei, Rose led Serena over to the table. Serena fervently grabbed two cookies and two cups of punch. She handed one of the cookies and one of the cups to Rose and quickly inhaled her share. Rose took a small bite out of her cookie, watching some Junior High boys toss pretzels in the air and try to catch them in their mouths. "Isn’t it just wonderful to see everyone all dressed up?" Rose awkwardly questioned, trying to start a conversation. "Darien looks wonderful in that tuxedo!" Serena giggled. Rose sighed heavily. 'Don’t you think so?" "Well, Serena, he’s my brother, so I really have kind of a hard time saying that," Rose explained. It was sinking in, the fact that they were related. "Oh," Serena murmured, her tone growing a bit more serious. "I forgot...I’m sorry, I can be very..." "I can be forgetful too, you know, so there’s nothing to worry about," Rose cut in, smiling and sipping the last of her punch. Serena grinned. "Yeah." All of a sudden, piano music started to play. Rose turned to see a girl seated at the piano. She was rather small and thin, with a pale countenance. Her shiny blonde hair was pulled into a low ponytail with a light blue bow, and she wore a sky blue dress that neatly showed off her curves. Her slender fingers hit the keys and began to play a tune. Rose was captivated as the music became a song, a song she somehow remembered in a dream. The rhythm was soft and gentle, with ethereal chords and combinations of notes. She set down her cup and, leaving a confused Serena behind her, began walking to the piano as if in a trance. The girl did not lift her green eyes from the white and black keys, her fingers slowly moving from chord to chord. Rose sat down in a chair next to the piano, her light brown eyes gazing at the girl seated there. Everyone was either listening intently or slow-dancing to the song. A girl with chin length green hair and wearing a black dress was grinning at the piano player but was occasionally looking nervous, apparently because she was dancing with a boy who was concentrating more on her feet than on his. When the song finished, Rose began clapping her hands together and smiling. Soon everyone joined in, the room full of thunderous applause. The girl turned pink and smiled, standing up from the piano and taking a timid curtsy. Then someone turned on a pop song, and all the girls in tight dresses began showing off their moves. The piano player looked rather relieved, sitting back down on the piano bench. "That was beautiful," Rose managed to say over the loud music. The girl beamed. "Thank you," she replied, moving closer to Rose so that the two could talk easier. "My mother composed it." "Well, give my compliments to your mother, and I hope you take my compliments to you. You’re a great piano player," Rose said, smiling sweetly. "I’m hoping to be as good a piano player as Amara Teioh," the girl answered. "Really? I bet that’s quite a goal," Rose complimented. "Yeah," the girl murmured. "I’m Rose Opal," Rose introduced, holding out her hand. "I’m Tracey Shamberts," the girl presented, shaking Rose’s hand cordially and smiling. "Nice to meet you. Do you go to the Junior High school?" Rose questioned. "Yes, I do. I’ll be in Juuban Senior High next year," Tracey answered, her lips upturned in a soft smile. The loud song stopped and eyes turned to see Tracey. Tracey nervously looked around and then laughed. "I see they want me to play another slow song." "Well, go ahead. We’d love to hear it," Rose encouraged. At that moment, Sonny strolled over, looking down at the two sitting girls. Tracey smiled shyly at him and raised her fingers in order to play. Sonny offered his hand, grinning, and Rose took it, letting him lead her to the dance floor. She gave a last encouraged smile to Tracey before resting her right hand on Sonny’s shoulder and putting her other hand in his. Tracey began to play a slow, sweet song that made Rose sigh dreamily. Sonny grinned and slid his arm around his partner’s waist. He then began leading her, the two swaying and stepping to the slow beat. Rose thought to herself, letting Sonny guide her across the dance floor. She felt safe and happy in his arms, sighing contentedly.