[FFML] [SM][FANFIC] Adventures of the Chibi-Scouts II Part 9

Adventures of the Chibi-Scouts II
By "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl and Doug "Candle Light Author" Helm

Those characters that are original and the story "Adventures of the
Chibi-Scouts II" are copyrighted (c) 2000 by Will Wolfshohl & Douglas
Helm.

This story and our other Sailor Moon stories reside at
http://rivendell.fortunecity.com/traveller/861/

Send comments to: "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl (wwolfshohl@logicon.com) or
Douglas "Candle Light Author" Helm (dhelm@log.on.ca)

Part 9 "Indulgences"

 "Small Lady, quit sulking!" Diana demanded as she looked down on
her charge from the little girl's bedroom windowsill.
 "I'm not sulking," Reenie huffed out, "I'm sleepin'." To prove
it, she pulled the blanket further up and snuggled deeper into her bed.
 Diana rolled her eyes and sighed. "Your bottom lip is sticking
so far out, it almost touches the roof!" Reenie rolled to her side to
face away from her feline friend. "You're the one that caused the fuss."
 "Am not," Reenie mumbled out.
 "It wasn't Serena's fault that she got candy," Diana pointed
out. Serena had successfully used her cuteness against her mother;
something that Reenie often did herself in Crystal Tokyo.
 "Why are ya picking on me?!" Reenie demanded.
 Diana sighed and changed the subject. "I'm taking the kittens
for a little hunting later on. Then, we're gonna scout around." She just
hoped that Luna would be more cooperative this time.

 Luna glanced up towards the attic bedroom window before letting
out a sigh. <What is taking that child so long?!> Looking around, she
called out softly, "Artemis?" When her companion didn't respond, she
stopped and called louder, "Artemis!"
 "Up here," came the soft reply.
 Luna swung her golden eyes upwards. "Where?"
 "Here." The reply was stronger but seemed a little scared.
 Luna could now see a small white form perched high up in the
tree. "What on earth are you doing up there?"
 "I'm stuck," he mewed in reply.
 <That didn't answer my question,> Luna thought with some
irritation but then sighed. "Well, I can't get you down." Hearing a
noise, she turned to look and found Diana approaching them with an
annoyed look on her face. "What?" Luna asked defensively. <Serena told
me to try and be nice...>
 "Oh, it's just Reenie. She can be so... so..."
 "Stubborn?"
 "Yes," Diana agreed and flicked her tail in annoyance.
 "So is Serena..." Luna sighed, "And Artemis is stuck up the
tree."
 "WHAT?!" Diana asked sharply, "You didn't chase him up there,
did you?"
 "Certainly not," Luna replied, "He probably got scared of his
own shadow or something."
 Diana sighed. She somehow knew that it was going to be a very
long night.

 Zirconia, Mistress of the Dead Moon Circus, gazed out over the
huge tent floor and frowned. "Silence!" she shouted, "Silence!" She
watched with a hint of satisfaction as the minions on their columns sank
down into the gloom and vanished. "Amazon Trio. HawksEye, TigersEye,
FishEye."
 "Yes, Grandma Zirconia?" the children answered giving a bow.
 "TigersEye failed..." She paused as HawksEye snickered. "This is
no time for games!" she thundered.
 "Have you found a new target, Grandma?" FishEye asked, her voice
demure and hopeful. "Do you know where Pegasus is hiding?"
 "Pegasus hides in those with pure dreams. This child," she began
holding up a snapshot, "has a pure dream." With that, she flicked it
down towards the Amazon Trio.
 HawksEye was the first to grab it and he sneered, "Only Pegasus
would hide in such a baby. TigersEye can take this one."
 "Not me!" TigersEye piped up, "FishEye can take it."
 "You guys are such a bunch of sissies," FishEye whined as she
took the photo. "Aw... he's so cute." She looked up at Zirconia and
promised, "I won't fail, Grandma."
 <You'd better not,> Zirconia thought to herself, <You'd better
not.>

 Luna stalked down the street alone a little more than an hour
after she, Diana, and Artemis had left the Tsukino home. She was in deep
thought. <Why couldn't I have stayed home?> She hadn't wanted to come
back to this universe. <Artemis weaseled out of it,> she whined, <He
should have come! He's probably lying around eating tuna, the lazy oaf!>
Only her duty to her princess required her to endure this torture.
<Sometimes I think Serena has too big a heart for her own good!> She
sighed then and gave her feline head a shake. <It isn't even Diana's
fault,> she decided, <She's used to the other me and I'm used to the
other her... but now I know what Serena feels like when Reenie gets
after her.> Although that last bit she would never admit to.
 She paused and stared curiously at the wide driveway that was in
front of her. <Where am I?> Turning, she blinked. 
Although she hadn't remembered it being this big. <A children's
hospital.> Despite the fact that its name currently escaped her. A tinge
of guilt shot through her. <I've wandered off, haven't I? Diana and
Artemis will be worried.> Nevertheless, she was still annoyed with her
future daughter, so she decided to snoop around. She was halfway towards
the side of the building when she spotted a child. A frown crossed her
face as she stared at the strange girl, not much older than Reenie.
<What's she doing out alone at this hour?> What was even more puzzling
to the kitten was that the girl was standing next to a side entrance.
 Backing up carefully, Luna waited until she thought she was safe
before turning and running down the sidewalk. <I'll get Diana. She'll
know what to do.>

 "Diana," Artemis questioned, "What's the matter?" When his
daughter didn't answer him, he offered, "I said I was sorry for going up
that tree, but I like to climb." He wasn't about to admit that Luna had
teased him for being afraid of heights so he had done it to prove her
wrong.
 "I'm not mad at you, Artemis," Diana admitted as she nuzzled
him, "I just wish I knew what to do about Luna." "Maybe I should take you home and then go look for her."
 "No," Artemis mewed, "I wanna help look for her too. I'm old
enough."
 Diana gave her father a soft smile and they proceeded down the
street together in silence. <Where would she go?> Diana wondered, <I'm
not used to her running off like this.> How could she explain to Artemis
why his playmate had changed so suddenly without revealing to him that
the others were back? <He wouldn't understand.>
 She stopped, one paw raised, as a slight sound came to her. At
first, the gray kitten was going to dismiss it but then she heard it
again. Turning her head, she saw a small black form running down a side
street. "Luna?" she questioned more to herself than to Artemis.
 "Luna!" Artemis called happily and ran towards his friend before
his daughter could stop him. The black kitten ran right by him though.
"Luna? What's wrong?" he questioned.
 "Diana!" Luna said as she skidded to a halt, "I saw somethin'
strange. I don't know if it's the Negaverse or not but it's really odd."
Her aura sensing ability did not exist yet.
 "Luna, this isn't any time to play. It's late and we should get
home. Small Lady will be worried," Diana admonished, "Now, come on."
 "Please, Diana, you gotta come and see."
 "Artemis, come on. We're going home." Artemis moved to stand
beside his daughter and they both started down the sidewalk. The white
kitten looked back over his shoulder to see if Luna was following.
 Luna sprinted ahead and said, "Diana, please..."
 "Luna, I have had enough games for tonight!"
 "I... I need your help," Luna pleaded softly, "Please, Diana,
come 'n' see?" Diana sighed a little. "Please?"
 "All right, but let's hurry," Diana finally agreed.

 A few minutes later, Diana and Artemis along with Luna carefully
approached the hospital's side entrance. "I don't see nobody," Artemis
remarked as he nervously looked around the evening gloom. He pressed
closer to Luna who seemed to want as much comfort as he did.
 "No, but..." Diana paused and then sniffed the air, "Someone has
been here." Something bothered her. <Maybe she's right.> "If it was a
child, why would they use this door?"
 "That's what bugged me," Luna said tersely.
 "I'm going to go get Chibi-Moon and the others," Diana told the
kittens, "We need Sailor Mercury's computer." She turned and gave Luna
and Artemis stern looks. "You two stay here and keep out of sight."
 "But Diana," Artemis began, "It's really scary here."
 "And what if she comes back?"
 "Then you track her," Diana instructed, "Now be quiet and stay
hidden until I get back." With that, Diana left hurriedly. At least,
there was an advantage to the older Luna being there.

 FishEye was not having a good night. The nine year old had been
cornered by a night nurse who had started asking awkward questions.
Eventually, she had gotten away but had become lost in the process.
Yawning expansively, FishEye looked around the darkened corridor and
sighed. <Where would he be?> It was getting late and she wanted to go to
sleep. The beds in the various rooms were beginning to look very comfy.
 Yawning again, she was about to continue her search when she
spotted something white come into the far end of the corridor.
Automatically, she leapt to the side and hid behind a laundry bin.
Peeking over the top of it, she grimaced. It was the same nurse who had
earlier questioned her insistently. <The old hag thought I was a
patient...> She shuddered at that thought. She saw a slight frown on the
nurse. <She reminds me of Grandma Zirconia.> Briefly an image of
Zirconia in a nurse's uniform flashed through her mind causing her to
giggle.
 Quickly covering her mouth, she crouched down even further and
hoped the nurse hadn't heard her. After a moment or so, she peeked over
the laundry bin and sighed. <That was close.> Deciding to get out of the
hall, she pushed open the nearest door and was rewarded when she spotted
her target.
 Moments later, FishEye and a small child left the room holding
hands. She promptly led him down the corridor. "Are we gonna see Mommy?"
the boy who was barely more than a toddler asked.
 "Of course, we are, honey," FishEye told the younger child with
a grin, "You said you miss your mommy and your daddy."
 "Yeah..."
 "This is a bad place, right?"
 "Mommy said me feel better but me no feel good." He coughed. The
doctors and nurses were constantly poking and prodding him.
 FishEye smiled indulgently at the child. <Maybe Grandma Zirconia
was right. Maybe Pegasus IS hiding in his dream mirror.> "Do you have
good dreams?"
 "The bestest!"
 "Oh, like what?"

 "Where is she?" Luna wondered as she paced back and forth. "It
shouldn't take her this long."
 "Luna," Artemis observed, "You're actin' funny."
 "Sorry," Luna said softly, "I'm... scared." She hated to admit
this small body was affecting her.
 "Me too," Artemis confessed. Why couldn't he be brave like
Diana? He was about to say more but paused. His eyes moved towards the
door that they were supposed to be guarding. Luna turned around and
observed the strange girl and a small child in a hospital gown come out
of the side entrance.
 "That's her," Luna mewed softly to Artemis, "What's she doing?"
 The child answered this when he complained, "You said Mommy
here. Where Mommy?"
 "I said I'd take you to her," FishEye replied sweetly.
 "Mommy tell me no go with stranger." The child glared at
FishEye. "Me no know you."
 "Sure, you do," FishEye cooed.
 "Nope."
 "Come on, I'll give you until the count of three."
 "No. I go bed. Me tired," the preschooler decided and started
turning around. His mommy wouldn't like him running off with a stranger.
 "One." A board came shooting up from the ground.
 "What?" Artemis and the boy squeaked out at the same time.
 "Two." Straps came out from the board to capture the frightened
youngster.
 "Mommy..." came the whimpering response.
 "Three!" FishEye shrieked and watched with anticipation as the
dream mirror came out of the small child's chest. She quickly placed her
head into the mirror. A moment later, she pulled it out and giggled, "A
cute dream but no Pegasus. Now I'll..."
 "Stop!" Luna shouted. She dashed forward and leapt with claws
unsheathed at FishEye who screamed in pain as Luna latched on.
 "Luna!" Artemis shouted and then ran after the black kitten.
Leaping at FishEye, he clamped onto her.
 The girl danced about wailing at the top of her lungs, "Get off!
Get off!" Her violent movements finally dislodged the two kittens.
 "This isn't worth it!" FishEye cried. She swiftly opened up her
blue rimmed portal and vanished back to the Dead Moon Circus.
 At that instant, the Chibi-Scouts arrived. "Children should be
in bed sleeping, or sneaking out for late night snacks... Not ruining my
plans!" came the voice of Sailor Chibi-Moon, "I AM SAILOR CHIBI-MOON,
THE CHAMPION OF LOVE AND JUSTICE! IN THE NAME OF THE FUTURE MOON, I WILL
RIGHT WRONGS AND TRIUMPH OVER EVIL AND THAT MEANS YOU!"
 "Um... Chibi-Moon," Sailor Moon interrupted sleepily, "Nobody's
here."
 "What?" Chibi-Moon demanded.
 "We beat the bad guy! We beat the bad guy!" Artemis sang out
loud while bouncing around in excitement.
 "What are you babbling about?" Venus asked her feline guardian.
 Artemis' only response was to sing out, "We beat the bad guy!"
Luna sat silently. She couldn't help but smile; it was nice winning a
battle for once.
 While Artemis celebrated his victory over the enemy, Sailor
Mercury went over and knelt down beside the unconscious boy. Flicking
her VR visor on, she scanned him intently.
 "Will he be okay, Mercury?" Sailor Moon wondered.
 "Yes," Mercury said, "Although he should be in bed." After a few
more key clicks, she added, "While he is ill, it's curable."
 "Hmmm... Mommy?" he asked. As his vision cleared, his eyes
widened. "Chibi-Scouts!" Despite the Blue Scout's protests, he struggled
into a sitting position and gazed around the group. "Where's Jupita?"
 "Sleeping with her mommy," Mercury snapped. The other Sailor
Scouts blinked at the harshness of her reply. The preschooler sniffled a
little.
 "Let's get you back to bed," Chibi-Moon suggested as she helped
him up, "Maybe Sailor Jupiter can come and see you sometime." Venus'
eyebrows rose sharply but she didn't say anything. "Come on, Venus.
Let's get him inta bed."
 As the two girls and the boy disappeared back into the hospital
building, Luna turned and asked, "Where's Mars?"
 "No time," Sailor Moon said sleepily, "We came straight here,
and it's majorly lucky we did." Diana nodded.
 "Yes, it was. Artemis, you could have gotten hurt. What were you
two thinking?!"
 "I was trying to help Luna," Artemis replied as he gazed at his
friend, "She didn't wanna wait for the Scouts."
 "I'm sorry, but she woulda brought out a Lemure," Luna
apologized and went over to rub her head against Diana who grumbled
something before returning the caress affectionately.
 "Where's Sailor Jupiter, Mercury?"
 "Like I said, in bed with Mommy," Mercury responded, "I couldn't
get her up." Not that she had really tried, although she was feeling put
out.
 Before anyone could respond to this, Chibi-Moon and Venus came
running out of the building, "Come on or we're gonna get caught,"
Chibi-Moon declared and grabbing Sailor Moon's hand, started charging
towards the sidewalk.
 "I said I was sorry!" Venus whined.
 "Sometimes, Venus," Chibi-Moon began, "I wish your mommy was
like Aunt Ellen." Venus shot her a dirty look. "I can't believe you
hadta give a speech to that nurse."
 "Mina..." Diana started. Venus just giggled mischievously.

 Early Thursday morning at the Cherry Hill Temple, Grandpa Hino
came out of the Great Fire Room and found little Raye waiting patiently
for him. "Good morning, Pumpkin," he greeted while hugging the little
girl, "Did you have a good sleep?" She nodded and hugged him back.
 "Grandpa, can I ask ya somethin'?"
 He gave his granddaughter a serious look. "Sure, Raye, what is
it?"
 Raye looked around for a moment before saying, "Can you be
Chad's daddy?" The old man blinked.
 "Huh?"
 "Can you be Chad's daddy?" Raye asked again. This time she had a
nervous tremble in her voice.
 "I don't know. Why Raye? Chad already has parents."
 Raye paused for a long moment and then she explained, "Serena
says that if I want Chad to be my daddy, then you've gots to be his
daddy 'cause you're my grandpa." She tapped her lip a little and
continued, "I wanna have Chad be my daddy but Lita 'n' Serena told me to
ask you 'cause you might not want to be Chad's daddy."
 "Er..." The old Shinto priest wasn't exactly sure what to say.
This had been unexpected. Certainly he liked Chad, was quite proud of
him, and he was secure in the knowledge that if anything happened to
him, Raye would have someone to raise her, but this... "So you want to
have Chad as your daddy?"
 "Yep," Raye squeaked. "I just don't want him to go away."
 "I don't think Chad would go away, Pumpkin," he said soothingly.
<Unlike my idiot son-in-law,> he added silently. "I'll have to think
about it." <Thank Kami, Serena told her to ask me first.> Serena was
quite intuitive for her age. Raye was lucky to have friends like her and
Lita.
 "But can I ask him? Please Grandpa?" Raye asked hopefully.
Grandpa Hino didn't really want to squelch the idea but he wanted to
talk to his acolyte first.
 "Raye, ask me tonight when you get home from school."
 "'Kay," Raye agreed a little reluctantly.
 "Now go get ready for school."
 "'Kay!" The little girl chirped and gave her grandfather another
hug before skipping off down the hallway.

 FishEye stood in the center ring before Zirconia. Her face was
flushed in shame and her eyes were lowered toward the floor. She tried
hard to block out the mocking taunts of the Dead Moon Circus minions
about her. Even her friends, TigersEye and HawksEye, could be heard
snickering somewhere behind her. She felt her stomach knot up as she
realized that Grandma Zirconia was coming to the end of her scolding.
 "Not only did you not find Pegasus, but you didn't even bother
to try and fight those that oppose us?!" FishEye cringed. "Even
TigersEye failed but at least, he used his Lemures and didn't run away
like some sissy!" The listeners hooted in laughter. "FishEye, look at
me." It was hard to do so but she was in so much trouble that FishEye
dared not disobey. "You are grounded!"
 "No, Grandma Zirconia!" FishEye whined, "I got hurt. See." She
tried vainly to show the scratches the two kittens had produced but
Zirconia glared her to stillness.
 "AND, no sweets for two weeks." FishEye held her breath. There
was something far worse coming, she could tell. "AND, you'll spend the
rest of the day in the corner."
 "NOOOOO!" she wailed, sounding remarkably like two certain
heroines she had run away from the previous night. Tears were running
down her cheeks. The other members of the Dead Moon Circus thought it
was hilarious.
 "CORNER! CORNER! CORNER!" TigersEye and HawksEye chanted
repeatedly, much to FishEye's embarrassment, but she silently promised
revenge.

 Amy Anderson indulged herself in a rare bout of sulking as she
waited for school to begin. This entailed actively ignoring her other
friends, especially Lita. <She coulda asked me along.> It wasn't that
her sister had done anything really wrong, just that Amy felt betrayed
because Lita had gone to sleep in her mother's bed. Not that Amy
couldn't have too but at the moment, Amy just wished that her mother
hadn't had an attack of "Serena-ism" and adopted Lita.
 When a shadow fell across her face, she looked up to see Kimmy
regarding her with a determined, and yet apprehensive, look on her face.
"Hi Kimmy," Amy said sullenly.
 "I thought you 'n' me were friends, Amy."
 Amy sighed. <Here we go again.> She didn't feel like playing
twenty questions so she simply stated, "We are."
 "Then how come you're with Lita all the time? You never play
with me no more."
 "Lita's my sister," Amy argued while straightening, "Don't you
like Lita?"
 "Yeah, she's okay, I guess," Kimmy admitted, "But you never
wanna talk 'n' stuff." She gave the blue haired girl a hurt look. It
grew even more as Amy shrugged. "Well, I'm not comin' to your party."
 "What party?" Amy asked. She didn't know about any party. She
started to pay closer attention to Kimmy, mainly because she liked
puzzles more than anything else.
 "Your birthday party," Kimmy elaborated, "I'm not comin'!"
Turning, she walked away, leaving Amy looking slightly bemused. She was
just starting to wonder how old she would be and when her party would be
when someone tapped her on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Lita glaring
at her.
 "What?"
 "Who put a bee up your butt?" When Amy looked away, Lita
continued, "Sis, what's the matter? You've been sulking since Mommy got
you up." Frowning a little more, she added in a softer tone of voice,
"And why didn't you get me up for the Lemure?"
 Amy sighed a little and said, "I'm sorry... I guess it's this
body. Or maybe it's me." When Lita gave her a confused look, she sighed
again and explained, "I was mad about you sleeping with Mommy... I...
I'm..." She blushed a little. "I just wanna be with Mommy by myself
sometimes."
 "I'll get Reenie to get Mommy to let me stay over at Raye's
tomorrow night," Lita offered.
 Before Amy could even think of a response to Lita's suggestion,
Mina popped up beside her and interrupted, "Hey, girlfriend, what's this
I hear 'bout a party?" Carrie had been babbling about a party at Amy's
this Saturday and Mina wanted specifics.
 "You know what a party means?" Serena questioned.
 "What?" Carrie asked as she stood near Mina.
 "FOOD!" Serena shouted with an anticipatory grin. Carrie rolled
her eyes.
 "It's my birthday party," Amy stated flatly.
 "Birthday party?" Serena queried, "But isn't your birthday..."
But before she could finish, the school bell rang and Amy ran for her
classroom. For a few moments, Serena stood in the rapidly emptying
schoolyard wondering where Amy had gone.

 "Grandpa!" Raye called with a squeal of delight. She dashed out
the gates of her parochial school and gave her grandfather a crushing
hug. "Where's Chad?"
 "He had some chores to do at the Temple," Grandpa replied with a
smile, "Do you have everything, Pumpkin?"
 "Yep!" Raye chirped and taking Grandpa Hino's hand, started
walking down the street.
 "Raye," Grandpa Hino started seriously, "Do you really want Chad
as a daddy?"
 Raye felt her heart skip a beat. She swallowed and at first,
didn't respond. What would she do then?
She looked at the older man before looking down the street again.
 "Raye?"
 Instead of answering, she put a finger into her mouth. She
blushed a little as she thought, <Even when I'm naughty, Chad doesn't go
away.> Lita certainly thought that she should have Chad as a father.
After a few more moments, she took her finger out of her mouth and
squeaked, "Yeah, Grandpa."
 The old priest nodded as if he had been expecting this response
and remarked, "Well, you can ask Chad if you like. It's okay with me."
Raye gave a squeal of delight and hopping up, wrapped her little arms
around his neck.

 "Serena!" The little girl gave a guilty start and turned around
to see her mother looking at her sternly from the kitchen doorway.
"Didn't I tell you to go play in your room?"
 "But I wanna help," Serena whined a little, "I'm a really good
baker!"
 Ellen Tsukino pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment before
saying, "I've told you that you're too little to help. This is for the
bake sale tomorrow. Now go and play."
 "Aw Mommy..." Serena began.
 "No, Serena, maybe we can bake some cookies sometime soon."
 "Now?" Serena questioned. <Why won't Mommy let me help? I won't
get in the way. I'm small!>
 "Want Sammy to play with you?"
 "No way. I wanna help ya, Mommy. How come Reenie gets to help?"
 "She's older."
 "But I'm a big girl!" Serena argued. She could feel tears
building up in her eyes.
 "Serena..."
 "I wanna help!" Serena protested and plopped herself down onto
the middle of the kitchen floor. Reenie, who had been discretely keeping
out of the way, came into the kitchen and stated, "Little Sister, don't
be a baby."
 "Uhmph!" Serena remarked while crossing her arms and turning her
face away. She let out a little gasp as her mother hauled her to her feet.
 "Go play in your room... NOW," Ellen commanded while reinforcing
the order with a gentle but firm swat to her bottom. Serena's bottom lip
quivered for a moment before she took a deep breath and walked from the
room, back stiff, head held high.

 Sometime later, Reenie crept quietly up the stairs and peered
down the second floor hallway. In her hand was a piece of wax paper
holding two chocolate chip cookies that were still hot. <Aunt Ellen
wouldn't like me giving a cookie to Serena this close to supper.> She
did feel a little bad for Serena. It was understandable that the little
girl wanted to help her.
 Walking quietly down the hall, she tapped on Serena's bedroom
door but there wasn't any sound from the other side. Carefully opening
it, she looked around and was surprised to see that the room was empty.
"Serena?" she called out but her little sister didn't answer. <Where
could she go?> She wasn't downstairs. Turning, she walked upstairs to
her bedroom and only found Diana sitting on the bed with Luna and
Artemis. "Have you seen Serena?"
 "No, Princess," Diana replied.
 <Where'd she go?> Reenie wondered. Moving back down to Serena's
bedroom, she came further into it and looked under the bed but Serena
wasn't there. Suddenly, there was a soft sound behind her. "Serena?" At
first, she wasn't sure she had heard the noise and then it came again.
Walking over to the closet, Reenie tapped on the door, the noise
stopped. <What's she doing in there?> Even her Serena never hid in the
closet unless they were playing hide and seek.
 "Serena?"
 No response.
 "Serena, I know you're in there," Reenie announced in a little
louder tone of voice.
 "Serena ain't here."
 "Well, who are you?"
 "Bunny," came the sulky reply.
 <Bunny? I'll play along.> "What are you doing in Serena's
closet?" Reenie asked.
 "Nothin'."
 "Want a cookie?" Reenie asked.
 "Who wants a dumb ol' cookie?" came the sulky voice. Reenie was
hurt.
 <Oh brother.> "Serena..."
 "Serena AIN'T here!" Serena squawked, "Now go 'way!"
 Reenie sighed and turned to leave the room. <Little kids are so
strange.> At least, Sammy wasn't there to torment Serena. He and his
father had gone out for a "boys night out" which mainly consisted of
fast food and some Poke-something-or-other movie that Ken really wasn't
interested in.

 Serena peeked around the corner at the bottom of the stairs and
sniffed the air. Even now, she could smell the last of the baking
wafting through the air. Her tummy rumbled as she thought of the sweets
that she had seen cooling when her mother had brought her down to eat
the pizza that had been supper.
 Serena pouted, <Why won't Mommy let me have
any? I'm a growing girl.> She was annoyed with her mother. Softly she
padded down the hall and slipped into the dimly lit kitchen. There, on
the counter, were the goodies, all neatly lined up and looking
delicious. Serena's tummy rumbled even more as she passed them for the
moment.
 <Okay, they're watchin' TV,> Serena thought and stealthily got
the stool she usually used. Pushing it as quietly as she could over to
the counter, she got up on it and looked over the cookies and other
treasures that lay before her. The real jewel though was the chocolate
cake that was decorated with colored candies.
 <Oh boy!> Serena thought as she licked her lips in anticipation,
<Is this ever gonna be good.> Serena ate her fill and then decided that
she'd take a nap (before eating another helping) to get her energy back
while her mother and sister watched television in the other room.

 "Reenie," Ellen said as she glanced at the clock, "Would you go
see what Serena is doing? She's been awfully quiet." It was nearly time
for Serena's bath.
 "'Kay, Aunt Ellen," Reenie answered as she slid from the couch.
She walked out of the room and down the hall to the stairs. Reenie mused, <My little sister's very quiet.>
And that wasn't like Serena at all. She had just arrived at the top of
the stairs when a loud crash came from the kitchen.
 Ellen leapt to her feet and ran for the kitchen with Reenie
closely following behind her. As they came into the kitchen and the
light was turned on, Reenie let out a screech of horror at the sight
before her. A tray of cupcakes lay upside-down on the floor. Cookies
were scattered everywhere, and there, sitting on the counter looking a
little stunned, was a six year old girl. Her hands, face, and much of
her dress were coated with chocolate icing.
 "Serena, what happened?!" Ellen demanded.
 "I was sleepy," Serena stated simply, "I took a nap but I guess
I pushed the stuff off." She giggled. "And it was good stuff!" She
shoved her fingers into her mouth to savor the last remnant of cake.
 "You did what!?!" Reenie screeched.
 "Serena Tsukino," Ellen began as she came forward and lifted
Serena off the counter, "You knew this was for the bake sale."
 "Nuh uh, Mommy," Serena countered, "'Sides, I thought you're
bein' mean and not lettin' me have nothin'." Her mother's eyes bulged.
 "What?" Reenie squeaked before her aunt could speak, "You knew
we're having a bake sale at school tomorrow. I told ya last week!"
 "So? You didn't make all this just for that," Serena assumed
then declared, "It's really really good. Mommy knows I like cake!"
<Especially chocolate.> She gave her mother a grin.
 "But... but..." Reenie began.
 "But... but..." Serena mocked.
 "How could you do this?!" Reenie demanded.
 "How could you do this?!" Serena demanded in return. <Hey, this
is kinda fun.>
 "Serena..." her mother began trying to get her children and
building temper under control.
 "I wish you hadn't come back, you rotten little spore!" Reenie
shouted.
 "Reenie," Ellen said sternly, "Don't be mean to Serena."
 "You're always on HER side!" Reenie huffed as she glared at her
aunt. "SHE gets away with everything!"
 "Reenie, don't be silly," her aunt retorted with exasperation.
 "Yeah, don't talk to Mommy like that," Serena said petulantly
with her hands on her hips, "You're just a big baby!"
 "I HATE YOU!" Reenie screeched and picking up the remnants of a
cupcake, threw it at Serena before turning and running from the room.
Serena started after the pink haired girl but her mother stopped her.
 "Reenie!" Serena shouted but the only answer was the front door
slamming shut.
 "Young lady..." Ellen began dangerously. Serena gulped.

End of Part 9

Coming next in Part 10 "Repercussions"

Ja ne,

"Tuxedo" Will

http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/angels/591/index.html (My Stories)
http://rivendell.fortunecity.com/traveller/861/ (Fanart for my stories)
http://members.xoom.com/questails/gateway.htm (The Archives [closed])

Keeper of "Tuxedo" Will's SM Fanfics/Scripts Archives
Author of "Tales of Younger Jupiter", "Chibi-Usa Times Two",
"Adventures of the Chibi-Scouts I & II", "Tales of Younger Venus",
"A Gem", "Tales of Younger Earth", "The World Turned Upside Down", and
"You Don't Remember How I Feel"

Moonie Code [1.12.05] SM:6-m+ F:sCh++Mo++Ve+:vBl+Pp:aNa+Ch+Ik:pSSR2 D:sUr-St
X:*****:a30|188s++|82d+:m6r|8s O:d+!s+oah+:x+
P:a++++:s61:eBG:hBlDm:*Le:y-:r+|+
Doug

"I am Sailor Chibi-Earth! And I will sit you in the corner!"
 - Tsukino Misako in "Tales of Younger Venus" Part 6

http://rivendell.fortunecity.com/traveller/861/index.html - Gallery
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