Earlier parts are available at the URL below.


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 16  "Balancing Out"

       Serena Tsukino blinked back tears as she listened at Lita's
bedroom door. Every fiber of her being cried out to go to the blue
haired girl and comfort her but Serena knew that Amy needed this time.
<Lita, have I done something stupid again?> she wondered. Everything
within her said that she had been right to let Lita stay; the others
needed her more. <I know Amy feels terrible. I can't imagine what it
must be like.>
       And yet, Serena knew because of her decision, Lita had not
returned. The true impact of that decision hadn't hit home until she had
looked for the tall brunette during lunch at school that day. <I really
miss her.> Serena wasn't the smartest of the Sailor Scouts but she knew
that she had seen Lita for the last time.
       It was the silence that pulled her from her thoughts. Pressing
her ear against the door, she listened but could no longer hear her
friend crying. Slowly reaching out, she grasped the doorknob and slowly
turned it. Using her free hand, she wiped the tears from her eyes but
they were quickly replaced. It was therefore with blurred vision that
Serena saw her friend lying on Lita's bed, face buried into a pillow.
       Stepping in quietly, Serena stood by the door. She didn't do
anything for few moments before calling softly, "Amy..." Blue hair
swished as the Amy's head turned to regard the blonde. Red, puffy eyes
stared accusingly at her princess. "I..." Serena began and halted as a
lump rose into her throat. "I..." her voice cracked again.
       Swallowing hard, Serena shakily moved towards the bed and sat
down. Her own flood of tears began anew when Amy sat up and wrapped an
arm around her. "I know we'll never see her again," Serena choked out
through her heaving sobs.
       "You shouldn't have let her stay," Amy rasped out. <I should've
stayed with you, Sis.>
       "You're wrong..."
       "How can you say that?" the blue haired teen protested, "Family
means just as much to me as it does to Lita."
       "Ames, what about your mom?"
       "I hardly see her," she admitted softly.
       "Was that why you wanted to stay?" Serena asked softly.
       "Yes."
       "Oh Amy, I know it can be hard but wouldn't your mom here miss
you? I bet she would." Amy looked towards the ground. "Weren't you in a
snit because Lita was spending too much time with your mom? Not here but
in the other universe?"
       "I wasn't used to it... I could have..." Amy protested. "No, you
could have made her see reason." Amy sighed. "She's not supposed to be a
child. Look what occurred in the `haunted house´."
       "Wasn't that YOUR idea?" Amy reddened a little. "I don't get it.
You want Lita to be happy but you want her not to be happy."
       The teen shook her head. "No, it isn't that, Serena. It's... I
mean, I want to be happy. I wanted the chance to have friends and have
Mom again."
       "Amy, we're your friends and I'd miss you just as much as Lita.
I love you, Amy, and if you weren't here, I'd have a hard time. You
aren't just the brains of the Sailor Scouts. You're my friend but you're
also important to the team. We were the first Scouts." Amy was silent so
Serena asked, "You grew up alone, huh?"
       "Just me and Mom most of the time. Then, when I was older, it
was mostly I. I never had any real friends..." <Until you and the
Scouts.> "Mom works a lot." <She has to to give me the best
opportunity.> She sniffled a bit.
       "You don't have to be lonely. I can't be your sister. I'd make a
majorly bad Lita but I can... I AM your friend."
       Amy sighed gustily and grumbled out, "Lita gets all the fun."
       "You think so? You just remember what happened after the haunted
house." The blue haired teen flushed bright pink and stared at Serena.
"You don't think I didn't know."
       "Uh well... yeah," Amy admitted sheepishly, "I mean Mina really
didn't."
       "I'm surprised Mina hasn't turned out to be more of a brat than
my daughter." She understood about Mina's carefree attitude more now.
Amy giggled. "Lita was needed there. You know that, don't you?"
       "I know..." Amy agreed. <Damn it! She's right! I'm supposed to
be the logical one!> "But it still hurts." The two friends hugged then,
trying to soothe each other over their mutual loss. After a time, when
they had ran dry of tears, Amy said softly, "I'm sorry, Serena."
       "Me too."
       They stared at each other for a long moment before jumping at a
scratching sound. Turning, they saw Luna at the window. Going over to
it, Serena opened it up and let the Lunar Cat in. "Are you all right
now, Amy?"
       "A little," the blue haired teen admitted. Luna gave her a
slightly relieved look.


       "Where are they, Mina?" Raye growled as she paced back and forth
across the Cherry Hill Temple courtyard. "What's this all about anyway?"
       "Cool your jets, Raye. They'll be here," Mina said soothingly,
"'Sides, if I told you, Serena'd be majorly upset with me, or Amy too
for that matter." She smiled and pretended not to hear the muttered
comment that Raye let out. Turning to Reenie, she remarked, "Don't
worry, Pumpkin, Serena will be here."
       "Yeah..." the child responded but kept her eyes firmly fixed on
the steps.
       "It was something very important. Serena was rather serious
about it. She even mentioned it before she left for school this
morning," Luna put in.
       "I still can't believe that Serena got up early."
       "I think that's from being little," Mina giggled. She had a
similar experience today and then, almost headed to the wrong school.
       "Here they come!" Reenie suddenly exclaimed and hopping up, ran
over to the top of the steps. This puzzled Raye since she hadn't heard
anything. Mina looked just as puzzled. "What took you so long?!" Reenie
demanded to the figures who were still out of sight.
       "Sorry!" came Serena's response. A few moments later, the blonde
came up the steps and patted the eight year old gently on top of the
head. "Didn't mean to be late, Litt... Reenie."
       "It's my fault," Amy explained, "Serena was worried about
arriving here too early."
       "I thought you were going to get Lita," Raye stated while
scowling. The Princess of Jupiter didn't appear to be with them.
However, the Shinto priestess didn't miss the sharp look that Serena
gave Mina.
       "I didn't say a thing," the beribboned blonde protested.
       "Well hurry up and tell me what went wrong!" Raye was not in the
best of moods. <Meatball Head must've screwed something up... again!>
       "Was Carrie mad at you, Mina?" Amy asked ignoring the question.
       "Well... sort of. But I think we patched things up."
       "Looks like we're all here," Luna observed.
       "What about Lita, Mama?" Diana asked. Luna looked uncomfortable
but didn't say anything.
       Serena shook her head and took a seat on the porch. Reenie moved
to sit by her but not TOO closely by her. "We should wait for Darien."
The others gave her questioning looks so she added, "I know it sounds
weird but I know he'll show up."
       "Yeah, he was awfully upset when you guys left," Artemis
commented. Reenie flushed slightly but remained silent. Serena wondered
what that had been about.
       Raye's temper was about to flare again, mainly because she was
frustrated about being kept in the dark, when Darien came up the temple
steps. Reenie waved at him and smiled. "Hi Darien!"
       "Hello, Reenie, girls," Darien then said nonchalantly, "I see
you're back, Serena."
       "Darien, I wanna speak with you later on... alone," Serena
began, "But I think me 'n' the girls should tell you what happened in
the other universe first."
       "Well?" Raye demanded.
       "I was right. The other Reenie WAS in trouble." Her daughter's
eyes grew a little wider when Mina and Amy nodded. "See, over there,
Chibi-Moon is the leader."
       "Small Lady?!" Diana questioned. The pink haired girl gave her a
dirty look. The kitten blushed but grinned as well.
       "Yes, Reenie. Sailor Moon wanted her to be leader... because she
was older," Luna added.
       "What sort of trouble?" Darien broke in.
       "Well... Lita died." There were gasps from Raye, Reenie, Diana,
and Artemis. Amy sniffled a little while Mina wrapped a comforting arm
around her. "My daughter was in a dilemma. She didn't know what to do."
       "But where's our Lita?" Reenie wondered.
       Serena took a deep breath and stated solemnly, "She stayed."
       "SHE WHAT?!?" Darien and Raye screeched.
       "She stayed," Serena said again.
       "How could she..." Raye began.
       "I let her, Raye." The priestess blinked. "Me and Ames both
decided she was right."
       "Serena, that was a dumb thing to do," Darien remarked. He was
startled when Serena leapt to her feet. "It doesn't surprise me
though... Well, Amy letting her pull something boneheaded like this
does." Raye nodded in agreement.
       Amy started to get up to protest but Serena waved her back.
Stalking over to where Darien was standing, she glared up at him. "It
was HARD, Darien. I miss Lita with all of my heart. But the others
needed her more. They're children who are facing very tough enemies. She
wanted to help Reenie and little Amy would have been devastated when her
sister never came back." Darien shrugged a little. "Don't brush this
off, Mister. It's majorly serious."
       "Never said it wasn't but don't you see this could cause more
problems than it solves?"
       "Yeah! What about our team?" Raye chimed in, "We should've had a
say too!"
       "Now who's being a meatball head?" Amy demanded.
       "Yeah!" Mina added. Raye blinked at the unexpected attack.
       "Raye, can't you see? The younger ones need her more."
       "As to a vote," Luna jumped in, "It really didn't concern
anybody other than Amy, Serena, and Lita."
       "Eh?" Artemis asked, "Have you lost your mind, Luna?"
       "Certainly not!" Luna snapped then explained, "Artemis, Lita
asked to stay. It wasn't just her decision though. Amy had a say because
she was Lita's sister. Serena had a say because she is the Moon Princess
and leader." <I won't mention little Raye having a say.> "When Amy said
she wanted to stay too, Lita told her that Amy shouldn't stay that she
should go back with Serena."
       "Yeah right. I say we go back and get her!" Raye replied, "We
need a strong Scout instead of a crybaby like Serena. Even Reenie knows
that."
       Reenie who had been sitting quietly, wide-eyed and looking
rather confused, reddened and looked towards the ground. "Raye, we can't
go back. Jupiter was the one who shot the Time Key for the trip. We
won't... We won't ever see her again." The silence that followed that
remark was deafening.
       And then, Darien exploded, "I've seen you pull some harebrained
stunts, Serena, but to let Lita be emotionally unstable like you is
something even worse!"
       "Reenie," Serena said in a controlled tone of voice, "We're
leaving. Come along."
       "I'm not done with you," Darien argued.
       "You most certainly are. I will not have OUR daughter subjected
to your ranting. Calm down and we might talk later." Holding out her
hand, she commanded, "Come on, Reenie." Reenie, surprised that Serena
wasn't wailing, got up immediately and took Serena's hand. When mother
and daughter had vanished down the stairs of the temple grounds, Darien
turned back to regard the others.
       "Don't you dare say such things to Serena!" Mina shouted at him
while waggling her finger at him. "Darien, letting Lita stay hurt us all
but she knew what it meant to Lita! What it meant to the other Reenie
and the Chibi-Scouts."
       "Lita made her own choice. She wanted me to ask all of you to
respect it," Amy explained, "I know it's a surprise but Lita knew what
she was doing." <More than even I did.> Nevertheless, he didn't appear
convinced.
       "Come on, Artemis," Mina suggested, "The air around here is
getting thick." With that, she picked up the white cat and left the
temple grounds. Darien threw up his hands, sighed, and walked away in
disgust. He'd never understand girls.
       "Mama, what happened?" Diana asked puzzled.
       "Come along, Diana, and I'll try to explain it. We should go see
where Serena and Reenie have taken off to."
       The priestess stared at Amy who looked back at her steadily.
Raye heaved a sigh and sat down by her friend. "I guess I shouldn't have
went off like that but I was... I mean, you didn't come right back."
       "Oh Raye, I can understand that you are angry. I was..." she
paused obviously hesitant to speak the word aloud, "at Lita. It hurts,
but Serena was correct in this." Raye grunted. "Lita wanted me to ask
you something, Raye."
       "What?"
       "She requested that you cut Serena some slack. She knew you'd be
upset with her. If you can't do it for Lita, could you at least do it
for me? Serena's got a lot on her mind."
       "What little mind she has..." Raye grumbled and then gave a
gusty sigh, "Oh I suppose, Amy." <At least until I find out what REALLY
happened.>
       "Thanks."
       There was silence for a few moments before the priestess asked,
"So, what was my other self like?"
       "Well..." Amy began, "I know she was Lita's best friend."


       Reenie took a sip of her soda before looking at Serena. They
were sitting at a small table outside of an ice cream parlor. "You
coulda got us ice cream too," she whined.
       The teen smiled. "You're right but Mom'd be mad if we ate ice
cream this close to supper." She ran her tongue over her lips. "But hey,
if you insist..." The pink haired girl shook her head.
       Reenie took another sip of her drink. It wasn't that she hadn't
wanted ice cream but it wouldn't do to get her aunt upset with her,
especially considering she was "on probation". Glancing around, the
child asked softly, "Was I... I mean, was Chibi-Moon really the leader?"
She still couldn't believe it.
       "She sure was," Serena declared and gave her daughter a large
smile.
       "Just 'cause she was older?"
       "Yeah, that's part of it. I think because the other Serena loved
her a lot too."
       "Oh..." Reenie frowned slightly.
       "You know, Reenie, I'm really proud of you for keeping my broach
safe. That was very responsible of you."
       Reenie's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. The child looked
at the top of the table and mumbled out, "It fell off when you left. I
was gonna give it to you but... I couldn't find it." She regarded at
Serena then and continued, "I thought I lost it again."
       "I knew you would keep it safe." The teen was trying to figure
out why her daughter was acting as if she'd let her down. There was a
long moment of silence, then Serena offered, "If you wanna switch
sometime, we can but we shouldn't tell Luna."
       The child blinked. "Huh?"
       "Well... the other Reenie was leader so she and the younger me
switched broaches." The eight year old's eyes were large with surprise
as she stared at her mother. "Took me awhile to figure out why I was
running around in your outfit." Reenie imagined Serena running around in
her uniform. She covered her mouth and giggled.
       After a few moments, the child grew sober and asked, "Didn't
Lita like us?" Serena blinked. "I thought she liked us."
       "She loved us, Reenie," Serena answered.
       "Then why'd she stay?"
       "Well... Lita knew the others needed a full team."
       "WE need a full team," the pink haired girl argued.
       Serena sighed. "Reenie, we're older. The other you was happy
that Lita decided to stay."
       Reenie didn't say anything for a long time. She stared moodily
at the table pondering what was said. Serena was just beginning to worry
when the child lifted her head and declared, "You're lyin'." Serena
blinked. "I'm a Sailor Scout too. You should tell me why Lita REALLY
stayed!"
       <Oh Reenie...> Serena thought and looked at the table.
       "Whatever. I'll go ask Amy."
       "Don't you dare," Serena responded more forcefully than she had
intended. "Don't you dare ask Amy."
       "See, I knew you were just making up some dumb ol' story." <You
always treat me like a baby!>
       Serena felt herself flush with anger. She clamped down on it
with as much control as she could muster and took a long drink of her
cream soda. <Little Pink Spore!> she thought, <The kid's too smart for
her own good.> The last thing she wanted though was for Reenie to go and
talk with Amy about it. Amy was not in the best shape right now. "All
right, but you promise me, give me your word as a Sailor Scout that you
won't ask Amy."
       "'Kay... I promise," the child grumbled out.
       Serena took a deep breath and then began, "Sweetheart, Lita
wanted a family too."
       "What?"
       "You know Lita lost both her parents in a plane crash, right?"
The pink haired girl nodded. "Well, she was lonely."
       "But she has friends and..."
       "Yes, we are her friends," Serena agreed. The feeling of loss
stabbed at her then. Picking up the napkin, she fiddled with it.
"But... Well, you want to see your mommy and daddy again, right?"
       "Of course! I don't wanna live with a meatball head like you all
the time."
       The barb didn't even register with Serena. "Lita wanted to have
a mommy." She regarded her daughter and wondered if the child was that
lonely here in the past. <No, she's got Darien and the others.>
       A silence lapsed between them for a few moments before Reenie
asked, "But I thought Mrs. Anderson WAS gonna be Lita's mom."
       The blonde giggled, and gave her daughter an apologetic smile.
"Sorry Pumpkin... It doesn't work that way..." <I wish it did.> "Anyway,
Lita knew that the other Amy would be very upset, sad if her sister was
missing. Even the other Raye would be sad." She regarded Reenie hoping
the child would understand some of it. She didn't understand all of it
herself and her insides were churning with conflicting emotions.
       Reenie was silent for a long time and then observed, "But you're
not sad."
       Serena bit her lip and looked towards the ground. As the child
continued to look towards the older girl for an answer, she was
surprised to hear a few sniffles. "Serena?"
       The blonde raised her head and Reenie felt a stab of guilt shoot
through her at the sight of tears. "I miss Lita so much. I care about
her, Reenie. That's why I let her stay." She paused briefly to wipe her
eyes. "Amy's taking it pretty hard. She lost someone she thinks of as a
sister. She didn't like what I did." Serena sniffled and gave a weak
smile before adding, "L-Lita told me I shouldn't be so mean to you."
       Reenie slid off of her chair and walking around the table
tentatively, gave Serena a hug. The older girl returned it and sniffled
a little more. "Thanks. Don't think Lita didn't like us. It was a hard
choice, Little Sis... Reenie. If she really didn't like us, Lita
wouldn't have even asked if she could stay." Standing up, Serena wiped
at her eyes and suggested, "We should go or we'll be late."
       "Okay," Reenie agreed and took Serena's hand.


       "What's the matter, Diana?" Luna asked the gray kitten as both
cats watched their charges leave for home.
       "I..." the gray kitten trailed off, "I hope I can get Small Lady
to be like Her Majesty."
       "You're doing a fine job."
       "But, Mama, how did you get Serena to be so nice?" Diana asked,
"Reenie can be friends with anybody, if she think it'll do her any good.
Serena will be friends with everybody."
       Luna sat for a long moment in silence before saying, "Diana, I
didn't do that for Serena. She was that way from the start. That's the
way she is. Serena cares about everybody."
       "Oh... but I thought you made her that way."
       The black cat chuckled. "No. If Serena had listened to me, she
wouldn't be so friendly," Luna admitted, "Diana, I think you're doing
great."
       "I am?" Diana asked, "But Reenie treats Her Majesty awful. I try
but..."
       Luna giggled a little. "Listen, you do a good job. What Reenie
needs is a friend from her own time. You let Mrs. Tsukino and Serena
worry about Reenie's behavior. A lot of that is the future Serena's
doing. She's spoiled Reenie and it shows." Diana blushed. "But I
wouldn't have expected anything else."
       Diana was quiet for a long time before saying, "Sometimes, I
just want to nip her in the ear and tell her to smarten up!"
       Luna giggled again. "Come on, Diana, let's go play something."
       "What?" Diana questioned.
       "TAG!" Luna shouted, "You're it!" Diana looked at her with
complete bafflement.


       Raye Hino stared at Amy in disbelief. "Are you serious?"
       "Is that so hard to believe?" Amy asked her friend.
       "Well..." Raye faltered and stared off into the distance. <Chad
as my father?> Somehow, she could see the other Chad in that role. <I
remember how I felt near the end.> "You say Serena and Lita talked her
into this?"
       "No," the blue haired teen responded, "They didn't `talk´ her
into anything. What they did do was to help the little girl make a
difficult decision. Raye was scared that if she got Chad as a father,
he'd abandon her like her biological father did. At least, that's what
Lita told me."
       <I still can't believe...> But in a way, she was happy for her
other self. <That poor little tyke needs someone to look up to and
Chad's a good pick.> She felt her own emotions starting to churn though.
"Is Chad a good father?"
       "From what I observed, yes. He cares about you a great deal."
Then with a small smile, she added, "Both of them do." Raye blushed
brightly for an instant before glaring at her friend.
       "I'm not going to ask Chad to be my dad."
       Amy giggled. "Did I ask you to do that?"
       "No."
       "Raye, Lita stayed for a similar reason. So, she could have a
family. So, my other self could have a family. Little Raye knew what
Lita returning here would mean. She knew her Lita had died and was upset
because of that. Raye, Lita was Raye's best friend."
       "I know... I guess... Oh Amy, sometimes Serena drives me around
the bend."
       "She does that to all of us on occasion," Amy confessed, "But I
think if Serena ever stopped thinking with that big heart of hers, the
world would be a little colder. She wouldn't be our Serena."
       "Yeah well, she's still a meatball head." Amy smiled. "How are
you doing?"
       The blue haired teen gave her a weak smile. "Still a little sad.
But I'm okay with what Serena did." <I wonder what Sis is doing now?>
She felt a little lonely but she would never say that aloud.
       "Well, I guess we'll need another meeting then."
       "Tomorrow," Amy decided, "It will give Serena a chance to calm
down." She needed some time with her mother too.


       Tuesday was bright and sunny, as the day before had been
although it was slightly cooler. Serena sat on the grass, her lunch
resting in her lap during the lunch period at Crossroads Junior High.
She simply stared at nothing. <Oh Lita...> She had caught herself
looking for Lita again; so had Amy.
       "Hey Serena!"
       The blonde lifted her head and regarded Molly. "Hi Mol."
       "You feelin' okay?" Molly Baker asked her friend.
       "Yep," Serena responded while trying to put a chipper tone in
her voice. "What's up, Mol?"
       The redhead sat down beside her oldest friend on the grass and
frowned. "Serena, you haven't even touched your lunch." The blonde
looked down at her lunch and then away but not at Molly.
       "Hey, where's Lita?" Serena didn't respond. "Hey Serena."
       "Oh, sorry Molly. What was that?"
       "I asked you where Lita was? I haven't see her at school this
week."
       "Uh... I don't really know." Serena then shoved some food into
her mouth and concentrated on chewing. Swallowing was hard because she
had a lump in her throat.
       "Are you okay?" Molly asked again when she saw the unshed tears
in Serena's eyes. <Something's really wrong. I wish she'd confide in me.
Maybe I can cheer her up at least.> "You should eat more slowly. Try to
chew it first."
       Serena started to giggle but choked. Hacking, she tried to glare
at her friend with annoyance. Her annoyance though fled as she saw Amy
sitting alone under a tree. "See ya later, Mol," Serena declared. She
gathered up her lunch and wandered over to sit down beside Amy.
       Molly felt a momentary stab of jealously wash through her but it
was quickly swept away when Melvin popped up beside her.


       "You be nice to Darien," Reenie told Serena. They were waiting
at the Cherry Hill Temple for Darien to show up so they could start the
Scout Meeting.
       "As long as he's polite," Serena replied and then scowled a bit.
"You didn't have to pinch me this morning."
       "You wouldn't wake up!"
       "Girls, please!" Luna demanded.
       "I see things are getting back to normal," Raye commented. She
grinned internally as Serena stuck her tongue out at her. "Darien said
he'd only be a few more minutes. You know traffic's bad this time of
day."
       "Yeah, and Mina isn't here either."
       "Probably playing in the park with Carrie," Artemis commented.
<She's been spending a lot of time with her lately.>
       "I should've been playing with Melissa today. We oughta done all
this yesterday," the pink haired girl whined. Raye nodded in agreement
which annoyed Serena but before the blonde could say anything, Mina came
dashing up the stairs with Darien following behind her.
       "Hello Darien," Serena said.
       "Hello Serena, Reenie, girls."
       "Come sit by me!" Reenie demanded. Darien smiled but walked over
to sit down by Amy. Reenie pouted a little bit and glared at Serena who
shrugged. "So what's up? I'm not usually privy to these meetings."
       Reenie opened up her mouth to make some comment but Amy beat her
to it. "We have to figure out what we're going to disclose when people
start investigating into Lita's disappearance."
       "Well. Reenie had everybody thinking that we went to a Hot
Springs," Serena remarked, "That was a pretty smart idea."
       "I helped," Raye grumbled but Serena ignored it.
       "Why can't she just not be around?" Mina asked, "We haven't seen
her since Sunday."
       "The police would look into the possibility of foul play since
nobody else saw you guys with Lita..." Darien trailed off and looked
meaningfully at Mina. The blonde turned as red as her ribbon and shot to
her feet.
       "What are you..."
       "Mina!" Artemis shouted, "Sit down and listen!"
       "I don't think Darien was implying anything," Amy quickly
interjected. Darien nodded. "I think he meant that others may assume
that. If the police start investigating into when Lita was last seen,
they'll discover that we never really left town. We would become
suspect. Despite Luna Ball's powers, I doubt it could affect that many
people." Reenie nodded.
       "Then what do we do?" Serena asked.
       "I think Reenie will have to have Lita `stay behind´."
       "Huh?" the two blondes asked in confusion.
       "Amy means that Lita couldn't come on the trip to the Hot
Springs with you," Reenie remarked, "Right?"
       "Correct, Reenie. We haven't seen the teen Lita since Friday
afternoon, which is the truth."
       "So, why am I here?" Darien asked.
       "Because, well, you helped Reenie," Serena indicated, "And,
besides, I wanna talk with you later."
       "You're in trouble, Darien," Reenie intoned facetiously, "I'd
run."
       "Hey Fungus!" Serena protested, "Who asked you?!"
       "Girls!" Luna shouted, "Can we please get back on track?"
       "Sorry," both bunnies answered.
       "I believe the police will search Lita's apartment for clues on
her whereabouts."
       "That's why we grabbed her diary," Serena remarked. The others
blinked. "Lita said it had Scout stuff in it too."
       "Do you have a diary too?" Luna asked her charge.
       "Sure does!" Reenie chirped with a grin, "And you should see
some of the mushy stuff she writes!" The child giggled as Serena
growled. "Oh Darien..." she began while imitating Serena's voice and
batting her eyes.
       "Why you little..."
       "Serena!" Raye shouted.
       "Raye..."
       "You can yell at her later." The priestess sighed. "So we'll say
Lita DIDN'T go on the trip. Is there any more stuff that might look
funny?"
       "Lita said she wanted a few things given to people," Amy stated,
"I was going to get them after the meeting."
       "Reenie can help you," Serena put in.
       "But I..."
       "So can Diana," Luna quickly interrupted. She knew Serena didn't
want Amy to be alone in Lita's apartment.
       "Yes, please let us help," Diana piped in.
       Amy took a long time and then nodded. "All right. I think it is
best if I express my concerns first when she doesn't show up for supper
with us. I'll inform my mom tonight and she can get the ball with the
police rolling. Everybody just hope events turn out okay."
       "I guess that's it for now," Darien said, "Well, I should go."
       "I'll come with you," Serena offered. She got up and walked over
to stand in front of Darien. "So we gonna go to your place or the park,
Muffin?"
       "My place," Darien replied and was glad when Serena hugged his
arm.


       "What's the matter, Artemis?" Luna asked, "Diana will be fine
with Reenie."
       "I know..." the white cat said as he looked out towards the
setting sun. "Luna, have you been feeling anything?"
       Luna frowned a little. "Now that you mention it, yes. I put it
up to my body readjusting. You're feeling it too?" The white cat nodded.
"I don't think it's Negaenergy. Certainly very distant."
       "Could the Negaverse be up to something?"
       "I don't know, Artemis."
       "Luna," Artemis asked as he turned to look at her, "Can we get
by without Lita?"
       Luna leaned against him and said softly, "I don't know." She
just hoped they could.

End of Part 16

To be Concluded in Part 17  "Sudden Thunder"