"Promises"
by the AP Scout
©2000
Author's Note: This is my third AR/AP story. I hope you'll like it.
NOTE: All Sailor Scout related characters are copyrighted by DiC, Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, and probably some other folks.
Part 1
Despite her laughter, seven-year-old Rini Tsukino didn't feel very jolly. She had escaped from Rubeus' UFO, but only just. Sailors Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Venus had been captured when Rubeus had tried to grab her the night before. And then, Sailor Moon, that klutzy girl known as Serena Tsukino, had saved her.
"Come on, Rini," Sailor Moon said as she transformed back into Serena, "I did promise you those pancakes and Mom will be very worried." When Serena held out her hand, Rini hesitated. Her old annoyance with Serena came back and for the briefest of moments, the old anger flared. Then, the child remembered last night.
After her good-byes and thank yous to the other Sailor Scouts, Rini took her "cousin's" hand and started walking towards home. As they walked, the child thought about the past two days. She found out the girl she was staying with was really Sailor Moon, the legendary warrior whom her father often told her bedtime stories about. Rini had taken Serena's transformation brooch to save her mother. And then, Rubeus came and captured first, four of the Sailor Scouts and finally, Sailor Moon and herself. She sniffled a little and walked a little closer to Serena. She had helped Sailor Moon but even the mighty Sailor Scouts had barely escaped. Now he was gone, blown up with his UFO.
They were almost home when Rini looked up at her fourteen-year-old cousin and uttered something that she rarely said, "I'm sorry, Serena." Serena stopped and knelt down beside her. "I caused all that trouble." She just knew she was going to cry and her meatball-headed cousin would tease her about it. "I just wanted to save my mommy."
"I know, Rini," Serena said softly, "I bet I'd do the same thing to save my mommy too." Rini sniffled a little more. "Now don't cry. Rubeus is gone and we saved you and the others. Now, we're going home for blueberry pancakes."
"Thank you, Serena," Rini said softly. Serena wiped away a tear, patted her on the head, and then stood up before walking again. Feeling a little better, Rini continued holding Serena's hand and began to enjoy the clear sunny day. She was glad Serena hadn't made fun of her. "Can we go to the park after breakfast?" she asked the teen.
"I guess you're gonna use Luna Ball on my parents so I don't see why not," Serena answered.
"What?" Rini asked, "Why would I use Luna Ball?"
"Rini," Serena said as she looked down at the child, "You took off and were missing since yesterday. My parents are like going to be way upset." Serena made a sour face. "At me too for that matter. I stayed out all night looking for you, you know."
She was right, Rini thought, they would get into trouble. Not that she liked Serena or anything but it wouldn't do for her savior to be yelled at and grounded. She was jolted from her thoughts when she ran into Serena. "Hey!" Rini protested and then squeaked, "What is it?" Serena had stopped abruptly and was looking into a shop window.
"Stay right here, Rini," Serena said with a grin, "And I'll be right out." Rini's tummy grumbled at the delay getting to those pancakes but it only took Serena a minute or so to come out of the shop. Kneeling, Serena said, "Hold out your right hand."
"Why?" Rini questioned as she did what Serena asked. She looked curiously as Serena slipped a small plain rather old-looking ring over her right middle finger. She was even more mystified to note that there was another larger ring attached to the ring on her finger; it was through this other ring that Serena slipped her own right middle finger. "What's this for, Meatball Head? I'm hungry."
"These are rings to make sure we keep promises," Serena said, "We make a promise and if we really mean it, the rings come apart."
"What promise?" the little girl questioned while looking suspiciously at Serena. What was this blond bubblehead up to?
"I promise to help your mommy," Serena said and silently added, "And be your friend."
"Do I have to tell?" Rini asked. When Serena shook her head, Rini gave the idea more thought. She knew what she would promise then and closing her eyes said inside her head, "I... I promise you won't get into trouble for staying out all night." She gave a little gasp as the rings separated.
"Now let's go. I'm hungry too," Serena said. She began to stand but Rini stopped her. "What?"
Taking on an awkward expression, Rini squirmed for a few moments then asked in a rush, "Would you carry me?" She smiled as Serena lifted her up and carried her the rest of the way home.
The reception that Serena got when she got home wasn't what she had expected. Both Irene and Ken Tsukino were happy that she had found Rini. They were even happier that Rini wasn't hurt. What confused Serena was that Rini made no move to use Luna Ball on her parents. Her father might have been worried about his little girl being out on the streets alone. However, when she said that the others had helped her search, it seemed to mollify him.
Once her mother was sure that Rini wasn't hurt, she demanded, "Little Miss, where were you?!"
"I didn't think Serena was being nice so I took her brooch and then took off. I was going to make her feel bad," Rini stated boldly. "I saw her lookin' for me but I hid."
"You knew Serena was out looking for you and you hid from her?" her aunt questioned.
"Yes, Auntie."
"I wish you had come home," Mrs. Tsukino said to Serena, "But I'm glad you found her. I just didn't want two girls missing."
"I'll inform the police that's Rini's back," her father said, "Then I'll head to work." With that, he turned towards the telephone.
"And I'll go make pancakes," Serena said.
"Pancakes?" Irene questioned.
"I promised Rini, Mom," Serena said, "I know she did something majorly wrong but I have to keep a promise."
"Honestly! What this youngster needs is a sore bottom and not a treat!" Rini winced.
"But we need breakfast, Mom, and I did promise..."
Her mother visibly controlled herself. "Fine, Serena, you may make pancakes, but after breakfast, you are to put some heat into that youngster's bottom and give her a bath before both of you go to bed for a good sleep. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Mom, but why me?"
"Because I'm too upset," Irene said, "And I need you to watch Rini today." She turned to Rini. "Little Miss, go park yourself in that corner and don't move!" The child gulped and scurried over to the corner.
The teen watched her mother head upstairs before going into the kitchen. Serena felt sorry for the little girl; she just couldn't understand why Rini hadn't used her Luna Ball. Well, she'd just have to make sure these were the best pancakes she ever made. It was just as she began cooking the pancakes that her mother came back downstairs.
"Serena, I have to run some errands this morning," Mrs. Tsukino said, "And I'm going out to lunch with my friends. I won't be back until late this afternoon. Sammy is at a friend's."
"Okay, Mom, I hope you have fun."
"So do I," her mother said, "Rini, you listen to Serena."
"Yes Auntie," Rini squeaked form her corner.
What's that little Fungus up to? Serena wondered.
"I'll see you later on then," her aunt said and gave her daughter a quick hug and a kiss.
As they ate breakfast, Rini said, "You wanna know why I didn't use Luna Ball?"
"Yeah," the teen mumbled out.
"Well... I made the promise you wouldn't get into trouble because of me," Rini said, "If I tried to keep myself out of trouble, then you'd get into trouble for staying out late."
"You know, Rini, I'm gonna have to punish you."
"I know," the child said, "Just... Could I sleep in your room?" She paused. "Mommy would be mad 'cause of what I did." She gave Serena a hopeful look. Now if you had said Rini cared for the older girl, the little girl would hotly deny it. It was obvious though that Serena was going out of her way to be nice and Rini was feeling bad about all the trouble she had caused.
Serena gave it some thought and then nodded, "Sure, so what's first?"
"Bath."
"Okay, right after we wash the dishes."
After bathing, both Serena and Rini headed for Serena's room. The teen went and sat down on the bed and looked at her cousin expectantly. Rini didn't waste any time. She padded over and crawled across Serena's lap. Serena could feel her cousin shiver a little as she lowered pajama bottoms and underpants.
"Sorry Rini."
"I know," her cousin responded. Putting her hand on the small of her cousin's back, Serena then started spanking the little girl.
Rini, for her part, wiggled and cried as the heat in her backside increased with every swat. Once Rini's rump was as pink as her hair, Serena stopped and raised the lowered clothing. Lifting the child up, she tucked Rini into bed before slipping in herself. The little girl snuggled closer and simply cried.
Serena yawned and stretched. Now that was a good nap, she thought. She must have been tired. Serena opened her eyes. A soft smile spread across her lips as she saw Rini lying peacefully beside her. The Pink Spore wasn't so bad when she was asleep.
As she watched the child sleep, Serena decided to be extra nice and take the little girl to the park and get her the biggest ice cream cone they had (and one for herself). The teen just couldn't help but feel kindly towards the pink-haired child who had fallen from the sky.
Reaching out to brush some of the dried tears from Rini's face, she stopped. Were her eyes playing tricks on her or was her hand smaller? Her pajama sleeve was overly large. Sitting up, she started making a squeaking noise when she realized that her pajama top was very loose. "No way!" she declared as she leapt from the bed. She looked inside the pajama top at her now flat chest.
Her cheeks flared red when her pajama bottoms and underpants slid to the floor. Continuing to blush furiously, she reached down and yanked them back up. She held them in place as she looked around the room. "Oh man..." Her eyes enlarged and for the longest time, she wondered what was going on. "The room's like sooo big."
"Serena?" It was the soft and sleepy voice of Rini. "Serena?" the child asked as she saw her standing on the floor, "What happened?"
"I don't know," Serena said, "I went to sleep big and woke up like this!" She waved a hand, lost her grip on her pajama bottoms exposing herself, and blushed again. "This is like majorly embarrassing." The next shock came as Rini scrambled out of bed and stood beside Serena.
"No way... You're as small as I am." Maybe even smaller, Rini silently added.
"But I don't want to be small!" Serena wailed, "It's way not fair!"
"Hey, I'm small!" Rini protested
"Oh, I'm sorry, Rini," Serena said, "It's just a shock. I don't know what like happened." She wailed then, "What are we gonna do? I can't let Mom see me like this. She'd go ballistic!"
"Maybe we should call Amy..." She looked at Serena and asked, "Rubeus didn't do anything to you, did he?"
"What?! Him make me small? He ain't that smart," Serena said and then added, "'Sides, if he wanted to do that, he'd make you bigger."
"How do you know?" Rini asked.
"Amy told me," Serena said. Rini looked even more bewildered but she wasn't about to explain it. "But you're right, we should call Amy. I hope she isn't like tinkering with her minicomputer again."
"Why?" Rini asked.
"Oh, she like got the case off before and had a heck of a time getting it back on," Serena said. "What time is it anyway?" After checking the clock, she said, "Good. Mom won't be back for another hour at least. Quick, go call Amy."
"What are you going to do?"
"Throw a tantrum," Serena said, "I want to get it out of my system before the girls get here."
"Are you okay, Serena?" Rini asked worriedly, "You're acting funny."
"I'm in a body of seven-year-old!" Serena yelled, "Of course, I'm going to act funny!!"
"Good point," Rini said and then giggled, "At least, you can be in the right grade now." Serena gave her a dangerous look. "I... I'll go call the girls," the child said and ran out of the room.
Part 2
The Sailor Scouts along with Rini were sitting in Serena's bedroom a short time later. Serena was amazed at Rini's intelligence. The typically annoying Pink Spore had used Luna Ball to shrink one of Serena's outfits so it would fit her properly.
Serena pouted, "And here I was trying to do something nice for Rini." She glared at the promise ring. "You sure it's magic, Amy?"
"I detected some residual energy from it," Amy said, "Although I'm puzzled. I wouldn't have thought this ring could hold that strong of magic."
"Rini, take your ring off," Serena commanded.
"Why?"
"If it did this to me, like what would it do to you?" the former teen asked, "I ain't gonna change any diapers!" Rini paled slightly and began grabbing the ring and pulling.
"It won't come off!" Rini said in a strained voice, her face was getting red from the effort.
"Here," Serena said with annoyance. Grabbing the ring on her cousin's finger, she yanked it as hard as she could. The child howled in pain until Serena was forced to finally give up the attempt. "Well, mine was bigger..." The diminutive teen gripped her own ring and tugged at it but it refused to move. It had shrunk along with her.
Several attempts were made with various lubricating items including soap and butter. Nothing worked; both rings were stuck fast. Serena could feel herself building towards another tantrum when Raye finally spoke.
"What does the ring have to do with the way Serena is?" Raye asked, "I knew she was always a child. Now she's just reverted to her true age."
"Oh shut up, Raye!" Lita snapped, "But it seems odd."
"Serena, what did you promise?" Amy asked. The other girls could almost hear her mind sorting through possibilities.
"Well that I'd help Rini's mom... and that I'd be her friend."
"Cool! I knew you liked her," Mina said, "You never could like hide that, Serena."
"You want to be my friend?" Rini asked, "After all the trouble I caused?" That was a surprise.
Serena gave the girl a smile and said, "Of course, I do."
"Then why are you such a ditzoid?" Serena growled at her cousin.
"Well, how is she going to get out of this?" Mina asked. "I mean she can't be walking around like a seven-year-old... She is seven, right Ames?"
"Yes, my scans indicate that she is physically seven years old." Raye looked like she was about to make a smart remark but a warning glare from Lita made her reconsider. "Unfortunately, I don't know how to reverse it."
"But what am I gonna do? My mom's gonna be home soon. I can't go meet her and say, 'Hi Mommy. Can I go out and play with Rini?'" Serena looked glumly at the ground.
"What about the Disguise Pen?" Raye asked. "At least until we figure something out." The teen-child grew a smile and retrieved it from her dimensional pocket.
"Never thought of that..." Serena admitted.
"That might work," Amy said, "Hold on. I want to transform to get a good reading with my VR Visor." After transforming, Sailor Mercury motioned for Serena to go ahead.
"Disguise Pen, MAKE ME FOURTEEN YEARS OLD!" There was a swirl of magic light and for an instant, the child was her old self again. And then, she shrunk again. Wailing at the top of her lungs, Serena dropped the Disguise Pen and hopped around while rubbing her rear.
After things had calmed down, Lita sighed and asked, "What are we going to do now?"
"Well we could use Luna Ball," Rini said softly, "But if I go home..."
"WHEN you go home and save your mommy," Serena said confidently.
"WHEN I go home, then anything I do with Luna Ball will be undone. Auntie Irene will think Serena should be fourteen."
"We just need a plan for now," Serena stated, "Amy will have this figured out WAY before then."
"Oh, you Meatball Head!" Raye snapped, "Don't be such an idiot!"
"I'm not an idiot!" Serena snapped back. "Why aren't you over at Darien's now?" Raye seemed flabbergasted by this demand.
"Please!" Amy said, "Let's not fight. We have to devise a solution to this problem." The room became quiet for a long time and then she said, "Rini, I believe you should use Luna Ball. At least, that'll give us an opportunity to figure out what to do."
"What do you say, Rini?" Serena asked, "It's up to you."
"Okay, but what's the story gonna be?"
"Why don't you two stay with me for a couple of days?" Lita offered, "I could use the company and if anything else happens to you, you won't have to worry about changing things for your mom and dad." Both little girls' tummies rumbled at that idea; after all, there was
nothing like Lita's gourmet cooking.
"What's taking them so long?" Serena complained aloud as she glanced towards her front door, "That Spore is probably getting me into trouble." Rini, along with Lita, had gone into the Tsukino home to adjust her parents' memories.
"Serena!" Lita called from the front door, "Serena! Come in here!"
"Huh?" Serena wondered but ran over to the door and said, "What?"
"Your mom was wondering where you were."
This puzzled the blond but she had no opportunity to question why her mother was looking for her because her mother appeared before her. "There you are, Serena," Mrs. Tsukino said, "Did you have a good time at Lita's?"
"Yeah..." The child-teen wasn't sure what else to say.
"That's good, honey," her mother commented, "Now take these and put them on your bed. I'll put them away later. You and Rini can play for a little while before dinner."
"But..."
"Come on, Serena," Rini said and headed up the stairs. Serena's tummy protested at the loss of Lita's cooking. Lita just gave her a firm but gentle push towards the stairs.
"Aw nuts!" Serena declared and wandered up the stairs. Irene gave her daughter a curious look before turned to speak with Lita. Once in her room with Rini, she closed the door and demanded, "Okay, like what gives?!"
"I don't know," the pink-haired child said. The little girl sounded just as frustrated as Serena. "I was using Luna Ball and Auntie told me to stop bouncing the ball in the house in case I broke something, then she asked me if I had liked sleeping over at Lita's."
"But we didn't..." Serena trailed off. The former teen's eyes grew large and she squeaked out, "Hey! What happened to my room?!?"
"Whoa!" her cousin declared, "It looks like mine!"
Serena stared around at her altered room. It looked like a little girl's room. Running over to her closet, she swore softly when she saw that ALL of her clothes were smaller and more kid-like.
"I wonder what happened to mine?" Rini said and ran out of Serena's room. The seven-year-old returned shortly looking rather puzzled. "All my stuff's gone."
"Like what?"
"My backpack."
"You mean this one?" the blond asked while holding up the item in question.
"Yeah, how come it's in here?" Serena shrugged. Further searching revealed that all of Rini's stuff was in Serena's room. "We must share a room."
"Aw man, I share enough with you, Fungus. I certainly don't want to share it all."
"Well, who says I want to share with a meatball-for-brains like you?!"
"Girls?" Irene's voice came to them from the other side of the door. It opened and showed the older woman looking puzzled. "What's all this ruckus about?"
"Why is Rini sharing my room?" Serena questioned.
"You practically begged us to let you and her share. We're not changing things just because Rini and you are having a little tiff," her mother answered.
"Oh..." Now was this some type of trick by the Pink Spore or did this have to do with the rings?
"Now go and wash up, you two, then come help me set the table and finish dinner up."
"Okay Auntie." When the door was closed and footsteps could be heard receding in the distance, Rini turned a hurt look on Serena. "I thought you wanted to be my friend."
"I do," the blond replied, "I really do. I'm sorry, Rini." Serena walked over to her cousin and sighed, "I'm just majorly confused." The child looked dubious so Serena added, "I promised. But aren't you worried?"
"Kind of, but I'm sure Amy will solve this." With that, both left to wash up and help Irene Tsukino with dinner.
After dinner, Rini and Serena were watching television in the living room. Neither seven-year-old noticed Sammy entering the room.
"Why are you watching this junk?" the boy asked. Sammy grabbed the remote and switched the channel.
"Hey! Turn it back!" Rini demanded.
He held the remote just out of the child's reach. "Don't get your little rabbit ears in a knot," Sammy replied. Then he grinned and pulled the desired object away from his little cousin's grasping hands.
"We were watching it first!" Serena protested.
"Yeah, give it back!" Rini shouted while jumping up. Sammy grinned and moved away from the couch. As the pink-haired child stalked towards him, Sammy started singing.
"Here comes Rini Cottontail, waddling down the bunny trail." It was so much easier to goad his cousin than his little sister. When the girl lunged at him, he sidestepped and yanked on a rabbit-eared pigtail.
"Ow..." Rini squawked, "Sammy! Give that back!" She cried out when Serena slammed into her. The blond had tried to rush her older brother from behind but he had saw the attack coming. "Meatball Head, be careful!"
"Yeah Bubble-brain," Sammy agreed.
"Grrr... you little dweeb!" Serena shouted.
The boy frowned and took a step closer, "What did you say?"
"I said you're a snot-nosed little dweeb butt-licker!" Sammy stood stunned. His little sister typically just wailed for Mommy. That's when Rini and Serena tackled him to the ground. "Now what?"
"WEDGIE!!!!" her pink-haired cousin declared.
Fortunately for Sammy, his mother came into the room just at the point where he was thinking he'd have to do something more drastic. "Now," Irene Tsukino said once she had separated the combatants, "What's going on?"
"I was just watching television and they attacked me!" Sammy exclaimed.
"Nuh uh. He switched the TV right at the good part!" Serena counter complained.
"He was teasing us!" Rini said.
"No, I wasn't," the preteen replied, "Honest Mom." Both little girls tried to argue this wasn't true but Mrs. Tsukino wouldn't listen.
"You," she pointed to Rini, "Into that corner! Serena, get into that one!"
"But Auntie..."
"Right now, young lady!" Serena and Rini went to their respective corners, grumbling the entire time. "Sammy, you watch them while I go get their bath ready. Girls, you behave!" With that, Irene left the room.
Sammy waited until he was sure his mother was out of earshot before walking over to Rini. "Here comes Rini Cottontail..."
"Shut up," Rini snapped.
"Be nice or I'll tell Mom," he said with a huge grin.
Serena sniffled and felt smoldering fire well up inside her. This was so unfair. She was fourteen after all!
Part 3
That night both little girls lay in Serena's bed. "This majorly sucks," Serena muttered to herself as she put her hands behind her head. "I'm fourteen." When her same-aged cousin didn't respond, she turned her head and found that Rini was looking very depressed. "Cheer up," she soothed the child, "There is one very good thing about this."
"What?" came the throaty question.
"I can be your friend and not, like, majorly embarrass you." The child-teen grinned even more. "I'll just SLIGHTLY embarrass you." She was happy to hear her cousin giggle although she wasn't looking forward to attending second grade with Rini the next day. "I meant it sucks that I had to go to bed early..." All because of that rat Sammy. "And I couldn't read you a story."
"Really?"
"Really." Rini did something even rarer then and gave Serena a large hug. Both children started as the door swung open to reveal Ken looking sternly at them.
"Girls, it's past your bedtime. Now go to sleep."
"Yes Uncle Ken," Rini squeaked.
"Yes Daddy," Serena squeaked. When her father shut the door, she breathed a sigh of relief. As the minutes passed, Serena felt herself falling into sleep. Just as she was about to cross over, she mumbled out, "I still wish I was fourteen."
"Yeah, me too," Rini mumbled in response. Maybe she'd be able to save her mommy then.
That's when reality started to shimmer. It started out as a small ripple and built into rolling waves that continued for a few minutes before smoothing out and vanishing entirely. Neither sleeping girl noticed.
When the alarm rang the next morning, Rini straightened with a jerk and promptly fell out of bed. "Oh... Meatball Head, whatcha kick me out of bed for?!" Was there something wrong with her voice? It sounded lower. Sleepily she pushed herself up and for a moment, felt very disoriented. I feel funny, Rini thought. "OH WOW!!!!" she exclaimed as she saw bulges in the front of her pajamas. The fact that she was wearing a completely different set of pajamas than she had worn to bed didn't even occur to the pink-haired girl. "I got boobies." She giggled at the new additions.
"Rini?" Serena's sleepy voice questioned and then a mass of blond hair raised up. "Holy cow!" Serena exclaimed and jumped to her knees. She stared at Rini in wonder. "You're big..."
"So are you," Rini said as she stood up. "Oh, what a body." She modeled for herself checking out her new curves. No more being a little girl for her. She pulled her shirtfront away and giggled again. "I got boobies." She cupped them with her hands testing their weight. She decided hers were even bigger than Serena's, probably B-cup.
Serena glanced down at herself, made a quick check that her breasts were back, and let out a joyful gasp of surprise. "I'm me!" She hugged herself tightly. "I wonder what happened..." She'd have to ask the other girls. She looked up at Rini and realized what the young girl was doing. "Uh, Rini, like maybe that isn't such a good idea."
"Why?" the new teen questioned while tweaking one of her nipples. Her red eyes opened wide and her mouth formed an 'O' in surprise.
"Well..." Serena blushed, "Please? For me?" I better find her a bra to wear, she thought.
"Okay," Rini agreed. "Oh, I gotta pee." She moved off towards the door and stopped, startled by the strange feelings. "Think I'm okay?" she asked Serena. She hated to admit it but when it came to being a teen, Serena knew more than she did, even if the difference was slight.
"I think so," the blond said, "Just remember that you have hair in other places too."
The new fourteen-year-old giggled, "I know," then blushed. Turning, she started walking again. "The room seems smaller."
"Seems just right to me," her cousin replied.
Just then, Luna came in via the window and promptly fell onto the floor with a thud. "Serena AND Rini up on time? I don't believe it. The world's coming to an end!"
Darien Shields was out for his morning jog when he heard yelling. Out of nowhere, a blond blur knocked and trampled him to the ground, the entire time yelling, "WE'RE LIKE SOOOOO LATE!" As he lay twitching on the ground, a pink blur trampled him further into the ground.
"I'm gonna start jogging as Tuxedo Mask," Darien moaned out. Having two consistently tardy eighth graders run over him was unhealthy as well as hard on his medical insurance.
Meanwhile at Crossroads Junior High School, Rini was just finding out what Serena went through almost daily.
"Detention for both of you!" Miss Haruna thundered, "NOW SIT DOWN!"
Serena and Rini hung their heads and shuffled to their desks. Serena was puzzled. There was nothing new about that, but she just couldn't figure out why Miss Haruna wasn't surprised to see Rini.
"Pop quiz. Books off your desks. You'll have fifteen minutes to complete it." She glared frostily at the two Tsukinos as they groaned.
The morning only seemed to get worse. While for Serena it was a typical day with her falling asleep and being yelled at by Miss Haruna; it was even worse for Rini. By lunchtime, the would-be teenager was near tears. Serena standing outside the classroom door waited for her cousin and winced as Haruna spoke, "I have seen some childish things in my time, Miss Tsukino, but I have never, ever before seen anything like this morning!" There was a lengthy pause before she continued on with her rant. "I know Serena is lazy and has almost no work ethic but at least she gets the job done!"
"Yes Ma'am," came the soft reply of Rini.
"But I'll say this for Serena. She might be a crybaby too but at least she DOES NOT ACT LIKE A SECOND GRADER!" Serena peeked into the room and saw that Rini was on the verge of tears. "Now take this note down to the principal's office."
"Y-yes Ma'am," the pink-haired teen stuttered out. Serena's cousin managed to make it out into the hallway before she burst into tears. Serena's temper flared. She had fought and defeated Rubeus to protect this child so she wasn't going to let some mundane junior high school teacher make the little girl cry, even if the Spore did look fourteen.
"Miss H!" Serena bellowed as she rolled up her sleeves, "I wanna talk to you!"
"Where are those meatball heads?!" Raye Hino demanded. She brushed the stone courtyard irritatedly. "Bad enough Serena's always late." Now Rini was picking up Serena's bad habits. Seeing a flash of blond and pink out of the corner of her eye, Raye turned and demanded, "WHERE WERE YOU?!"
"What happened to you two?" Lita asked the two teens that were slowly making their way across the courtyard. "You look like you were fighting for your lives."
"We were," Serena breathed as she flopped down beside Mina, barely missing hitting Artemis.
"Auntie got called to school," Rini explained and flopped down beside her cousin. "Amy, tell me you figured out how to stop this."
The blue-haired Sailor Scout lifted her eyes away from the textbook she was reading and regarded her friend quizzically. "Stop what?"
"This!" Rini said indicating her body, "I'm supposed to be seven." She was looking forward to returning to normal. Serena could have being fourteen.
"Mrs. Tsukino like must have rattled you bad if you're talking like that," Mina observed. "So what happened?"
"You don't know?" Lita questioned, "I woulda thought the whole city woulda known by now." The ponytail on her head swung back and forth as she shook her head. "Man, was that ever dumb, Serena. I can't believe you tried to bawl out Miss Haruna."
Suddenly the temple grounds became quiet as everyone stared wide-eyed at Serena. The broom in Raye's hand clattered to the ground. "She did what?" Raye squeaked out.
"So that's what the shouting was about," Amy observed.
"Guys," Serena said, "We have to find a way to reverse this stupid thing or like Miss H will keep picking on Rini." She sighed. "If it wasn't for Luna Ball, Rini and I'd be grounded forever." They had gone home and adjusted her parents' memories again. She was going to miss Luna Ball if it ever left.
"What are you talking about, Meatball Head?"
"And you say I'm dense," Serena huffed, "I'm talking about like what these stupid rings did to us."
"I don't think they remember," Rini said.
"This is no time for jokes," Luna said, "We have urgent Scout business to attend to. We need both Sailor Moons to pay attention."
"But this is important Scout business," Serena protested.
"Both Sailor Moons?!" her cousin said shocked. She wasn't a Sailor Scout, not even her mommy was.
"Oh yeah?" Raye mocked ignoring Rini.
"Yeah!" This led to a tongue war.
About an hour after eating, Serena and Rini sat in an ice cream parlor and sipped milkshakes. "I way can't believe they didn't believe us." Rini sighed. Cupping her face in her hands, she leaned her elbows on the table and sipped at her chocolate milkshake.
"I know," Serena replied.
"At least, I didn't have to eat carrots like last night," the pink-haired girl said. Making a face, she sighed. "Auntie always makes me eat 'em."
"Don't remind me," Serena grumbled out, "I hate the things too." When they had been seven, last night, her mother ensured that both little girls' carrots were eaten, much to their dismay.
At first, Rini had thought Serena had a lot of advantages but there was more work being a teen than she had thought. Just then, she noticed some other people looking at her. Boys around Serena's age. Shifting, she scratched an itch and noticed that the boys' gazes never left her. "Serena?"
"Yeah?"
"Those guys are looking funny at us. Think it's the Negaverse?" The blond cast her gaze over to where Rini was looking and grinned.
"Nah, they're just interested in pretty girls." Rini felt herself flushing brightly. "Hey, isn't that Darien?" Rini questioned while pointing out the window.
"Yeah, it is. Come on," Serena said. She quickly slurped down the rest of her shake in one swallow and bolted for the door.
"Wait for me!" Rini declared. She drained her own shake and ran after her cousin, long pink pigtails flapping behind her. The teen boys promptly got up and started following the two pigtailed girls.
"DARIEN!" Rini shouted, "Darien, wait up!" She could feel herself smile as Darien stopped and turned. The man grinned at her broadly but why wasn't he surprised?
"Hello... girls," Darien breathed out as both bunnies glommed onto him. "So, what are you two up to?'
"Nothin'," Serena said and glared at Rini.
"Take us to a show?" Rini asked.
"Okay, what do you want to see?"
"I'll choose," Serena said and then whispered to Rini, "Remember you're really seven." Rini stuck her tongue out. Of course, Serena wasn't going to let that go unchallenged.
Some time later, both Tsukino girls practically floated into the Tsukino house just before their curfew. Irene, upon hearing the front door open, came out into the hallway and smiled. "I see you two had a good night out."
"Yeah, Aunt Irene," Rini replied, "It was great!" Especially that goodnight kiss she had gotten from Darien. It hadn't been like what he had given to Serena but it was still tender and caring.
"Yeah, it was nice," Serena said.
"Why don't you go sit down in the living room and I'll get you some tea," Irene offered, "Then you can head to bed."
"Thanks Auntie," the would-be teen replied and skipped past her aunt towards the living room. Serena was quick to follow and as they settled onto the couch, the blond teen grabbed up the remote and started flipping channels.
"Hmmm... That was a great movie!" Pink hair cascaded over Rini's shoulders as she undid her hair from her meatballs. Stretching, the teen yawned before saying, "And it was a nice evening."
"Sure was," Serena agreed. "And he's MY boyfriend."
"He's mine," Rini countered. Moments later, she turned her head and saw Irene entering the room. "Here's a bedtime snack, girls. Now don't stay up too late. You both have school tomorrow."
"'Kay!" both chirped.
As soon as the adult left the room, both teens made a disgusted looking face. "Just great. I didn't even get my homework done," Serena muttered out.
"Me neither," Rini said, although she had no hope to answer such difficult homework questions. Junior high was just too hard. "I don't wanna go to school." Not if it meant getting yelled at like she had today.
"Yeah," Serena said, not looking forward to another session with Miss H, "School's like so not cool. I wish I didn't have to go."
Rini blinked and then gave a little gasp. "Serena, d-do you see that?"
Serena blinked and then asked, "Is that a wave?"
"Yeah." But it wasn't a wave of water; rather reality was twisting to make a wave like a scene dissolving in a movie. They cringed away from it but the wave passed around them and both girls shuddered at the sensation.
"What's..." Serena stopped speaking as another wave came at them
and then another. The intensity increased.
"Serena, what's going on?" Rini asked while gripping the blond teen's hand, "I'm getting scared."
"I'll call the others," Serena replied but she had her eyes tightly shut. Her stomach rolled and she felt like she was going to vomit.
Part 4
"Serena?"
Serena blinked, opened her eyes, and then squinted as bright light flooded them.
"Princess, are you okay?"
"Wha-?" Serena questioned. She was staring at a huge pair of legs. It was a giant! Or was it? Looking up, WAY up, was Amy Anderson towering over her. She was startled to see bright sunlight filtering through the windows. She strained to push herself into a sitting position but realized that she was already sitting on the floor.
She turned her gaze to find Rini, considerably smaller and pudgier, looking just as surprised. Her hair with its tiny pigtails was a mere shadow of even her seven-year-old norm. Serena's were much the same.
"Why me not in school?" Serena questioned and then blinked; that hadn't sounded right. Turning to her cousin, she asked, "You okay?"
"Yeth," Rini said and slid over to be by Serena. Her motions caused a distinctive crunching noise.
"Silly goose, you don't go to school yet," Amy said.
The pink-haired toddler wasn't sure what was going on. "How old you?"
"I'm fourteen," Amy said in a singsong voice while lowering herself to the floor, "And Serena is four." She pointed to Serena. "And you're four too, Rini." She pointed back to Rini.
"Four?" Serena questioned. Seeing a stuffed bunny in front of her, she lifted it up and hugged it close to her. It was comforting to her.
"Four?" Rini said while holding out four fingers.
Amy clapped. "Very good, Rini, and how many is five?"
"Four," Rini repeated, ignoring Amy's question, "That really sucks."
"Shhh..." Serena warned but it was too late. Amy was giving Rini a shocked look. Then something occurred to her. Pushing herself up, she started to toddle her way towards the bathroom.
"Where are you going, Princess?"
"I gotta take a pee," Serena replied.
Amy blinked. She then turned back to Rini. "You stay there, okay Rini?"
"Sure Amy," the pink-haired toddler replied. As Amy led Serena to the bathroom by the hand, Rini picked up one of the toys that were scattered about her on the floor.
After putting the girls down for their afternoon nap after lunch, Amy turned her communicator on and pressed Jupiter's sign first.
"Hey, girl, what's cooking?" Lita questioned.
"Lita, get over here," Amy said, "I need you to make sure I'm not going out of my mind."
The brunette took on a serious look. "Ames, what is it?"
"I don't know... Look, just get over here as fast as you can. I'll call the others."
"Right," Lita said and signed off.
"I'm going out of my mind," Amy muttered to herself before she pressed Venus' sign. It only took a few minutes for the remaining Sailor Scouts to show, all looking grim faced and very worried.
"What's wrong with the little Princess?" Raye demanded.
"Shhh..." Amy warned, "They're taking their naps in the living room. Come into the kitchen and I'll tell you what happened this morning." The other girls looked between each other but followed their blue-haired friend into the kitchen. Several minutes later, the other three Sailor Scouts were looking stunned and disbelieving.
"Are you serious?" Mina questioned, "Like no way. Serena started talking like us?"
Amy shuddered slightly and said, "Her speech pattern reminds me a great deal of yours." Mina glowered at Amy.
"Are you sure you're not nuts?" Raye asked, "I mean our cute little princess talking like Mina?" That was a truly scary thought.
"Not only that but they can read and write too. I preformed some tests," Amy said, "Rini tops out about second grade, maybe a little higher. Her IQ is near genius level for her age. However, I couldn't be 100% accurate." The others stared at her. "And... she's completely toilet trained."
"No way!" Lita declared.
"If that's right, Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino are probably going to wanna throw a party."
Wanting to change the subject, Amy continued on, "Serena's vocabulary and comprehension is even higher than Rini's. It is at an eighth grade level, a low level but still grade eight."
"That's bad," Mina said imaging Serena in her class, "Poor little Princess, having to go to eighth grade and being only four. She'll get picked on a lot."
"Mina!" Lita said with annoyance, "This is majorly strange."
"What caused it?" Raye asked, "Are they possessed?"
"Serena has an explanation for that too," Amy said, "But when she told me, I thought I was hearing things."
"So you want us to make sure you aren't, right?" Lita replied.
"Yes, why don't we get some tea and we'll let the girls finish off their naps first."
"I think I need to lie down," Raye said as Serena finished explaining her tale. "This is impossible!"
"I am reading signs of low level magical energy," Sailor Mercury said looking through her VR Visor, "It is consistent with Serena's hypothesis." She looked up and said, "Have you tried the Disguise Pen?"
"I did," Serena said, "It felt like I got spanked." She winced at the memory and sighed, "So what now, Ames?"
"You sure they aren't evil?" Raye questioned.
"Try and slap a ward on my forehead, Flamebreath, and I'll..." she trailed off when she noticed the others looking at her utterly shocked. "What?"
"You should watch your language, young lady," Lita said, "If your mommy ever heard that type of talk..."
"She's right, Serena," Rini said and giggled. Turning from the blond-haired preschooler, she said, "We couldn't get the rings off. I want Serena to be normal. Say about a year or two younger." She giggled again as her cousin glared at her. Mina lifted Rini up to keep the two toddlers from going after each other.
"This is way weird," Lita said, "But what do we do?"
"I believe it centers around the rings," Amy said, "If Serena's story is to be believed..." She looked apologetically at Serena who was not looking too pleased at this point. "Then we must get the rings off."
There was silence in the living room for some seconds and then Raye said, "Well, Rini could let Serena out of her promise."
"But I want to help her mommy," Serena protested.
"The others can help me, Serena," Rini said, "I don't mind. Me and you always fight anyway." Serena looked hurt but also stubborn. "I mean who'd want to be friends with a crybaby like you?" Serena sniffled, scrambled to her feet, and ran from the room.
"Serena!" Raye called. She chased after and almost immediately caught the four-year-old.
"Young lady," Mina said, "that wasn't very nice."
"Let's go to the park or something," Lita suggested, "We can let them play for a bit and Amy can think of a way out of this mess." Rini just hoped that Serena would still be her friend, even if she wouldn't admit it.
That night, two toddlers lay in bed, a bunny-head nightlight in a corner providing comforting light. "Why four?" the pink-haired toddler questioned.
"Wha-?" Serena asked sleepily.
"I said, 'Why four?' We were fourteen before." And not in diapers!
"I don't know. Go to sleep, Rini," the blond toddler retorted while rolling over. She cringed at the crunching sound of the diaper that she, like Rini, was wearing.
While Serena had worn training pants during the day, her mother had put her into a diaper before being changed for bed despite her protests she was a big girl now. It had been thoroughly embarrassing; the blond's only comfort was that Rini hadn't laughed.
In the meantime, Rini tried to place the puzzle pieces together. There had to be a solution to this strange situation. "Got it, Meatball Head!" she declared and sat up, "It's the rings." Her bed companion rolled over to look at her with irritation.
"No duh! Of course, it's the rings."
"I mean I didn't wanna go to school, and you didn't wanna go to school, right?"
"Yeah... So what?" Serena wondered.
"Well, we wished it and we didn't havta go, right?"
"I guess," the blond said and started turning over. Rini reached out and caught her arm, "Look, Fungus, I'm tired." It had been an extremely trying day. "And Mommy said to be quiet." Her mother had already came into the room once.
"Meatballs-for-brains! Listen to me!" Rini demanded, "If we both wish, really really want an age, we can be it."
"Well, I want to be fourteen," Serena said.
"But it's too hard," Rini whined, "What about twelve?"
Before the blond could respond, the door opened and Serena's mother came into the room. "I thought I told you girls to go to sleep." She gave each a stern look. "What are you still doing up?"
Serena glanced at Rini and noticed her cousin's face was screwed up in concentration. After a moment, the pink-haired toddler gave a little sigh that only Serena heard before saying, "Me had accident, Auntie." And tears began to flow.
"WHAT?!" Serena demanded and threw back the covers. There was no mark on Rini's pajama bottoms but a pungent odor started emanating from the pink-haired toddler.
Part 5
Sometime later when things had been cleaned up and the house was quiet, Serena said, "Thanks, Rini, that was close."
"Forget it," Rini replied. She didn't want to admit it really was an accident.
"What age do you want to be?"
"Twelve." The blond gave her a curious look. "'Cause it ain't too old and if we do something wrong, we can't get spanked."
"Sounds good," the toddler replied, "We might not even have to eat carrots."
"And we can eat candy too," Rini added. Both little tummies rumbled at that thought. Neither girl had liked it when they had been firmly denied sweets.
"But who says it's gonna work?"
"Won't hurt to try," Rini countered. Serena shrugged; the Pink Fungus had a good point.
So both tried wishing to be twelve but nothing happened. After a few frustrating minutes, Rini was about to give up when Serena said, "You know, Spore, you're right. Twelve might be fun." Moreover, she believed that with her entire being, and that was the difference. Reality shimmered, bringing the waves.
Serena moaned as sunlight stabbed her relentlessly in the eye. "Oh... I'm soooo tired!" Pulling a pillow over her head, she sighed. "I guess it worked." She felt heavier than she had before. "Still flat as a board though." She observed after running a hand across her pajama top, just some puffiness around her nipples. Back to a training bra, she thought sullenly.
That's when a noise that sounded like thunder ripped through the room. The blond sat upright and gave a squeal of alarm. Then she saw that Rini, sitting on a separate bed, was blushing deeply and holding her nose.
"'Cuse me!" the twelve-year-old squeaked.
"Rini! I told you not to eat all that chili last night," Luna muttered from her position on Serena's bed. "It's a wonder anybody in the house slept at all with you doing that all night." This just caused the pink-haired girl to turn an even brighter shade of red.
"Eew! That's like majorly gross!" Serena declared and held her noise as the terrible odor invaded it.
"I can't..." Rini began but was caught off-guard by another thunderous emanation.
"Jesus Rini! Go check your shorts, will ya?" Serena choked out. Looking as if she was going to die of mortification, Rini hopped out of bed before running from the room. "Gah! Gotta open a window. I think I'm gonna die!"
"Then get dressed. I'm glad you're up on time for once."
"Put a cork in it, Luna," Serena replied while sticking her head out an already open window. "Ah... clean air!"
Moments later, Serena's cousin came bouncing into the room, "It worked! It worked! We're older and look, I even got boobies!" Rini raised her pajama top and shoved her chest out proudly. Not as big as when she was fourteen but still almost an A-cup. Serena was surprised and felt a shot of envy run through her. Worse still, Rini even had a good couple of inches of height over her.
"Rini!" Luna scolded, "Have some modesty. Come on, you two, or you'll be late for school!"
Serena was popular.
The blond found this out at lunch. No sooner had she and Rini moved and sat down alone at a table, then several students gathered around her. She recognized a couple of them who were fourth graders she knew when she had attended here two years ago. At first, neither girl was sure what was going on, mainly because they weren't paying attention.
Rini had had a particularly hard morning. While the work wasn't as hard as when she was fourteen, it was still beyond her capacity. Serena, on the other hand, was quite pleased with her accomplishments.
"I like can't believe you totally aced that quiz, Serena," one girl said, "You like never did that before. What ya do, cheat?"
"Nah," Serena said, "It was easy." This caused a stir to run through the gathered group. "Besides, Amy helped me."
"Amy? Oh, you mean that Anderson girl?" When the blond nodded, the speaker added, "She's a real brainiac. No wonder you passed, Serena."
"Yeah, you're da bomb, Serena. I can't even get those girls to like even talk to me," a brunette said. Junior high school girls could be so stuck up. "But you get to hang around with them, and that hunky Darien Shields..." The collective of preteen girls sighed dreamily.
Serena was about to respond that Darien was her boyfriend when she saw Rini getting up. "Hey, Rini, where are you going?"
"I'm gonna go see Melissa," the pink-haired pre-teen replied while gathering up her lunch things. She wandered off with the other sixth graders staring after her.
"Like who's Melissa?" one asked.
"Hey, no way! Rini's heading for those babies!"
Serena sighed. Rini was heading towards where some second graders were sitting, among them was her friend Melissa... Rini's transgression was quickly forgotten, however, when someone said, "Darien's already got a girlfriend. I think it's that creepy priestess at the Cherry Hill Temple."
"WHAT?!?!" Serena shrieked. She was going to have a long and
painful talk with one Raye Hino.
Melissa stared up wide-eyed at the sixth grader who was standing beside her. "Hey Missy!" the girl said, "Can I sit with ya?" The little girl just nodded her head in wonder. She had seen this pink-haired girl around before but she had never spoken to her. The other second graders who were sitting at her table were equally bug-eyed with surprise. "What?"
"W-Who are you?" Melissa finally squeaked out.
"Missy... I'm Rini," Rini said, "So whatcha bring for lunch?"
"Um... A sandwich."
"Any pudding?" Rini always tried to snag an extra chocolate pudding from her friend if she could.
"Yeah, do you want it?"
The sixth grader reached into her lunch bag and produced a smaller bag that held four cookies. "I got you those double chocolate fudge ones that you like." She stared with confusion as Melissa's eyes expanded almost to the point of exploding as her jaw swung open. "What?"
"You're so cool!"
"Thanks. Now are you gonna fork over the pudding or do I havta eat these cookies myself?" The little girl did more than that she pushed the rest of her lunch over to Rini and grabbed the bag of cookies. Maybe this had been a mistake but it was the major social event of Melissa's young life!
"Serena PASSED a test?!" Raye Hino screeched later that afternoon, "No way!"
"Oh stuff it, Flamebutt!" the new preteen replied, "Why do you keep thinking I'm like a total airhead? I would've been in kindergarten still if I was!" The other Scouts boggled.
"Here we go again," the pink-haired preteen muttered out.
Amy shook herself and then said, "Don't worry, Rini. I'll take you over the material again, although I can't see how you failed. You and I studied it thoroughly yesterday."
"Yeah and Serena just played arcade games," the priestess added.
"Can't you be proud of Serena?" Lita said, "She might be pulling her act together finally." She glared at Serena and added, "But I want you to promise me that you'll study harder."
Trying to change the subject, Serena asked, "Like, where's Mina? You complain about me being late but Mina isn't even here." When the others didn't answer, she offered, "Is she off chasing another guy?"
"No!" Raye, Lita, and Amy said together while looking nervously at Rini.
"She IS off chasing another guy."
"I feel sorry for him," the pink-haired twelve-year-old commented. The others simply stared. This was very weird. Mina was Rini's idol. "So do you want to give them the explanation or should I?"
"Your turn. I did it the first time."
"Right," Rini said, "Well, you see this ring..."
"Like that didn't go too well," Serena observed an hour or so later as she and Rini left the temple. Her cousin nodded in agreement. "Want to go see Darien?"
"You gonna try and hurt him?" Serena pulled a sour face so she added, "Well, you nearly did that to Raye."
"She has no right dating my Muffin," Serena pouted, "I'm the leader of the group." Barely though, if anything, the girls only tolerated her leadership but it had been made painfully clear that the other Sailor Scouts expected their advice be followed. Suddenly both preteens screamed as a blond blur bounced in front of them.
"Hi!!!!" Mina sang.
"Hi Mina," the girls responded.
"Come on, Rini, time for today's lesson."
"Lesson?" the pink-haired girl asked warily.
"Yeah, we have to hone your boy-hunting skills. You nearly had one last time. So gotta motor." With that, the red-ribboned blond grabbed Rini's hand and started off down the street. Serena's cousin waved to Serena and gave her a helpless look.
"That's Mina for you," Serena said to herself and turned down the street towards Darien's. "Lita sure is pushy though." Not as bad as Raye but far more pushy than Lita typically was. "If like I didn't know any better, I'd swear they're were going to transform and blast us." Raye had certainly thought they were evil from the get-go. Only several ineffective anti-evil wards proved to her that Serena and Rini weren't possessed by the Negaverse. Although none of the other Scouts were as accepting of the new reality as they had been when she had been four.
"Hey!" exclaimed a male voice, "Watch where... Oh Serena, should have figured that."
Serena blinked and found herself staring up into Darien's handsome face. "Hi Muffin."
"Serena..." Darien said with mild exasperation, "What are you doing?" he asked as the blond stood on her toes to kiss him.
"I want a kiss, Muffin. I've had a majorly bad day."
"Serena, I wish you wouldn't do that. You know I'm going out with Raye." He then firmly moved the twelve-year-old aside. "Maybe we can go out for ice cream sometime." With that, he jogged down the street towards the temple.
Rini staggered into the Tsukino home, well after her curfew. No sooner had she gotten the door shut than the yelling began. "I'm sorry, Auntie," she mumbled out, "I was out with Mina and we forgot 'bout the time."
Feeling the need to lie down, she turned and walked up the stairs part way through the lecture. She could hear her aunt's voice calling her back but she ignored it. "Oh, I hurt all over." Chasing boys with Mina was dangerous work. She briefly considered a bath but instead opted for bed. Walking into Serena's room, she staggered over to her own bed and flopped down on it.
"Hi Rini. You look awful," her cousin said. A moan escaped Rini's lips. Reaching up, she dragged the pillow to her and sighed. "Don't feel good, huh?"
"No," she replied and felt the bed shift as Serena sat down. "I just wanna be normal. I don't wanna be twelve no more. I don't wanna be four. I just wish to be plain old seven-year-old Rini Tsukino."
"So seven, huh?" Serena asked while stretching out on her side beside the other pre-teen, "I s'ppose I could handle that again."
"No," the pink-haired girl said while turning to face Serena, "I want you to be normal. I don't want you to be anything but my annoying fourteen-year-old cousin who's Sailor Moon and reads me stories and even spanks me."
Serena blinked. "You want to be back to normal then? What about being friends? What about your mommy?"
Rini summoned enough strength to push herself up to face her cousin fully. "You can save my mommy and be my friend," she said, "But I think you can be my big klutzoid crybaby cousin too." She giggled as Serena growled.
"I would like to be me," Serena said, "It was fun being twelve but I miss my friends..." And she could do things for the little Spore when she would let her. Both felt a strange sensation run through them. They raised their fingers that held the rings and watched in fascination as the rings crumbled away to a fine dust. They looked at each other for a moment and then down at the dust pile where the ripples were starting to form.
"Do you think?"
"We can only hope," Serena answered.
Reality shifted one final time.
"SE-RE-NA!!!!"
Serena jumped up and looked around her room. Her mother was glaring at her. It was late in the day by the angle of the sun and things seemed to be normal. She hugged herself. She seemed to be her normal fourteen-year-old self in all respects. Looking down beside her, she saw a bleary-eyed seven-year-old Rini sitting up in bed.
"It's about time," Serena's mother said, "You slept most of the afternoon."
"I guess I did."
"Well, I want you to help me with dinner in a few minutes."
"Okay Mom," Serena said and stretched.
Her mother started leaving and then turned to face her again. "Did you do what I asked you to?" The blond gave her mother a blank look. "About Rini, is it taken care of?"
"Yes Auntie," Rini said. Oddly, she could still feel the sting in her rump. Scrambling to her feet, she then proceeded to moon her aunt. "See?"
"Honestly, Rini. Now both of you get dressed," Irene commanded before leaving the room.
"I guess we're like back to normal," Serena observed while swinging her feet from the bed.
"Almost," the child replied and turning her still exposed rump to Serena, she let off a thunderous emanation.
"Spore!" Serena shrieked, "I'm gonna get you for that!"
The other Sailor Scouts never did believe the bizarre tale that Serena and Rini told. Nor did Darien for that matter; the whole incident was quickly forgotten when Emerald of the Black Moon Family appeared. Serena didn't forget her promise though. She still was a friend, even if she was still a crybaby and a klutz. Rini wasn't as much of a pain either, although sometimes she found herself over Serena's lap with her bare buttocks being warmed to a bright pink.
The End
That's it, folks. I finally got some time to write this story I had in my head since December (those EE courses are murder on one's time). Some people didn't like the ending to my first story, "Rini's Change of Fortune". I wasn't about to rewrite it. RCoF didn't have as much AR/AP as I (and others :) ) would have liked. This time I wanted Rini to get the chance for some AR/AP and still be a happy semi-bratty seven-year-old girl at the end. And I couldn't leave Serena out of the fun. Those two naturally go together.