Hope Through the Ages By the AP Scout
(c) 2003 AR/AP/TF
This is my latest 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. Elements of this story are not suitable for those under 18.
Part 1
The air that late evening was hot and muggy. Nothing moved outside Serena Tsukino's bedroom window. Both sides were flung wide open to try and capture even the smallest of breezes. The Moon had reached its mid-arch, shining blue-white and a quarter full.
The fourteen-year-old let her head loll to the side and rested her right cheek on her folded arms. Sleep was evading her. Luna, her guardian cat, had left to search a cooler spot outside.
The girl, her hair not done up in its typical meatballs and long golden wondered if the heat was effecting the enemy from the Negaverse the same way it was her and the Sailor Scouts.
She grimaced as a few beads of sweat rolled down her back. Serena pulled at the waistband of her pajamas and sighed. The teen was wondering how she was going to manage to stay awake in Ms. Haruna's class the next day when her door opened.
She turned her head and saw a pink-haired seven-year-old girl coming into the room. It was her cousin Rini and the little girl didn't look happy at all. Her hair wasn't in its typical fluffy pink pigtails but rather had been taken down for the night. Serena sighed. She really didn't want to deal with Rini right now.
"Like can't sleep?" Serena asked softly. Rini shook her head, closed the door, and padded over to her.
"It's sooooo hot," Rini complained. "I feel all sticky."
The teen wondered for the millionth time why Rini always came to her when she had a problem instead her mother. The seven-year-old tended to be one major pain in her backside. Nevertheless, every now and then, Rini would come looking for some sort of comfort.
The blond would admit, if only to herself, that Rini was okay... for a kid. She could empathize somewhat. How lonely must it be for Rini? Being chased into the past by the Black Moon Family when all she wanted to do was to save her mother.
Rini sat on Serena's bed and gave her an unhappy look. "I can't go to sleep. Read me a story?"
"I like got school tomorrow, and so do you, spore," Serena griped.
"No, we don't."
"Huh?"
"Serena, tomorrow's the start of summer vacation." The blond blinked. "Jeez, Meatball Head, did you forget?"
"Really? I don't gotta go to school?" Serena asked, perking up visibly, and then she narrowed her eyes. "You aren't like just saying that."
"Why would I say that?" the little girl asked indignantly. "What an airhead," she muttered under her breath.
"To get me into major trouble, spore."
Rini sat silently for a few seconds; Serena had a point. Instead of countering the accusation, she asked, "Serena, you gonna like read me a story now or what?"
Serena sighed. "It's way late. You should sleep."
"But I'm hot!" Rini whined.
"Jesus Christ, how will I..." The teen trailed off and then gave Rini a hard look. "Oh all right. Come on, Rini, and be quiet. I think I got a way for us to like cool down." Reluctantly, Rini followed the fourteen-year-old. The first stop was to Rini's room to pick up a fresh set of panties.
The duo then padded down the hall softly and then downstairs. The pink-haired girl briefly wondered where they were going until Serena detoured into the bathroom. She pulled Rini inside and softly closed the door. With a flip of a switch, light flooded the small room and nearly blinded both of them. When their eyes adjusted, Serena started to fill the sink with water.
"Why are we down here?" Rini asked.
"Because Mom and Dad are like asleep."
"Oh..."
Once the sink was about halfway full, she turned off the faucet and said, "Okay, let's get those pajamas off." Rini raised her arms so the teen could lift the top off. The garment was reluctant to come off and stuck to her. The bottoms weren't so bad but Rini felt better when they were off.
Putting two washcloths in the sink, Serena said, "Come on, we'll like change those grooty panties too."
"Good idea, Serena," Rini agreed and removed them. "Now what?"
"Use this one to like wipe down your front and I'll get the back," Serena said handing her a washcloth. Rini took it and started wiping away the sweat. The cool water felt nice against her skin.
Serena started work on Rini's back, wiping under her arms, across her shoulder blades, and down to the small of her back. Rini's bottom seemed to glow white against her tanned hand. Serena dampened her cloth again and used it on the small bottom before moving downward to the girl's legs and feet.
The two girls finished at the same time. As a finishing touch, Serena got out some talcum powder and patted it gently around. After the clean panties were on, the teen asked, "Feel better?"
"Lots."
"Okay, now let's like go upstairs. Think you can sleep now?" Rini nodded and held out her arms. The teen grinned and lifted the little girl up. Turning off the light, she carefully made her way upstairs. "You can camp out with me under my window, Rini. There's like a little breeze coming in there."
"'Kay," Rini agreed.
*
A short time later, Rini and Serena lay on the floor on Serena's futon. The pink-haired girl felt much better. She was still sweating but it wasn't as bad as it had been before. The way Serena was acting, Rini was glad she had worn one of Serena's tank tops. It was much cooler than pajamas even though it hung down to her hips.
"Serena, why don't you take off your PJs?" Rini asked as the teen tossed onto her back. The blond turned her head and looked at her quizzically. "I know how hot I was." Serena seemed a little reluctant. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing..." The little girl gave the teenager a hard look. "It's just..." Another pause and then Serena sighed. "Okay." She pushed her pajama bottoms down and off, tossing them aside. Next, she pulled her top off. She stretched and then feeling a little braver removed her bra.
"Way better," Serena said and flopped back down. Rini grinned. Despite the teen's voracious eating habits, Rini was hard pressed to find any fat on Serena. She knew from their baths that her cousin had a firm bottom, curvy hips, and strong thighs. Serena's breasts weren't as large as Lita's to be sure but they were still firm. The crowning touch was that Serena had hair someplace beside her head -- though the blond shaved most of it off. Serena was definitely a young woman.
Rini sighed. She, in comparison, was flat-chested, had no nice curves, and the top of her head barely came to Serena's waist. As to fat, her belly was a little plump and so was her rear end and that fat didn't help any when Serena or her Aunt Irene spanked her. She hated to admit it but she was still a little girl.
"Like what's a matter?" Serena asked, arms behind her.
Rini blushed and then mumbled. "I'll never grow up."
"Yeah, you will, sweetheart," Serena said, "Everybody does." The child grumbled unhappily. When the seven-year-old quieted, she added, "I know I used to like think that way when I was your age."
"Uh, Serena?"
"What?"
"Could I ask you something?" When the blond nodded, Rini moved a little closer and softly, in a very embarrassed tone, asked, "Are you mad that Lita gots bigger boobies than you?"
"Rini!" Serena bolted upright and stared at Rini who suddenly felt like crawling under a rock. The blond settled back down on her side and held her arms open, inviting Rini to snuggle. After a moment, the pink-haired girl did so and Serena hugged her. "A little I s'ppose," she said, "But I like know that it wouldn't look right on me."
"What?"
"Well, Lita's tall and more muscular and stuff. Try and picture me with them." The little girl did so and had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. As it was, a muffled giggle escaped. "That's pretty much my reaction. I couldn't stand up!" She was sure Darien would love D-cups but just the thought of all that extra weight made her tired. "I think I'll grow a little bigger when I get older." And gain some up top, she added silently.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I'm not a grownup yet."
"I coulda told you that, Meatball Head." Serena glared at her and Rini giggled. She sighed as a thought struck her. If Serena wasn't a grownup, what did it make her? She looked down at her immature body. "But it would be lotsa fun to be big." The room fell into silence for along time and then Rini asked, "Serena?"
"Hmmm."
"Do you think I'll ever find my mommy?"
"Yeah, I think you will."
*
The next day the heat wave broke and things slowly returned to normal. Rini would bother Serena, Serena would yell at her, and then Irene would yell at her daughter for being mean to her little cousin. Then Rini teamed up with Sammy to torment Serena with water balloons and water pistols. The teen thankfully was found innocent. The guilty parties though weren't so lucky.
Then the school marks showed up, a week after summer vacation started. The meatball-headed teen cringed when she found out. She got chewed out but not as badly as she thought she should have been. The real devastation came when she bumped into Darien and told him that she had passed.
"Now there's a surprise, Meatball Head," he had commented. Their talk had gone downhill from there.
Late the next afternoon, Serena walked down the sidewalk towards home. The blond was feeling very sorry for herself. All the girls had been mean to her... well except for Mina but the ribbon wearing blond was just as flighty as ever.
Raye in a streak of meanness said that Serena was a complete and utter child and spent the rest of the day talking to her as if she was four. When the teen complained, Amy, quiet and typically reserved, stuck up for the raven-haired Sailor Scout.
Lita's contribution to the effort of making Serena feel bad happened when they were talking about what men supposedly liked about girls. When Serena offered breasts as an example, the tall brunette declared that since Serena didn't have anything approximating breasts, implying that even Amy had more in that department, maybe she should let the adults talk amongst themselves.
To put it mildly, Serena left in a huff.
Coming home, she paused in the entryway; the house was unusually quiet. "I'm home!" she called out.
"Go and get cleaned up, Serena, then come and help me with dinner!" her mother called from the kitchen.
"'Kay!" Serena called. Taking off her shoes, she went up the stairs and walked down to her room to drop off her purse. When she came back out, she noticed that Rini's door was closed. Wondering if her cousin was around, the teen knocked at the door and peeked inside. The little girl was lying on her bed looking completely bored.
"Serena!" the pink-haired girl shouted in relief as she bolted upright, "Did Auntie say I could come out now?"
"What?" Serena asked.
"Auntie didn't tell you to come up here and get me?" The seven-year-old sounded very disappointed.
"Just got home, Rini."
"Oh..." Rini flopped
Puzzled, Serena came into the room and closed the door. "Uh... You wanna tell me what happened?"
"Well, I gots grounded for a day."
"Why?"
She blushed. "I said a naughty word."
"And you like got grounded?"
"I said it before," Rini replied and grinned sheepishly, "Auntie Irene didn't like that and stuff."
"I guess not." Then curiosity demanded, "What was it?"
"Uh... can't say..." Then in a softer tone, the little girl added, "At least not now." Serena grinned and winked. "So anyway, I was..."
"SERENA!"
"Oops!" The blond declared, "Listen, Rini, I gotta like help Mom with dinner but we can talk later, 'kay?"
"Yeah," Rini agreed looking a little unhappy.
"Rini, you aren't the only one that had a bad day." Before the pink-haired girl could respond, Serena was out of the room and headed down the hallway. Irene was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs. "Sorry, Mom, I was just sayin' hi to Rini."
"Oh, where is she?" Irene asked.
"In her room, she wanted to know if you were going to let her out yet."
"OH!" Irene declared, raising a hand to her mouth, "I forgot!" Looking guilty, she said, "I'll go talk to her. By the way, Lita's on the phone." With that, the mother went up the stairs.
Serena paused for only a moment and then walked over to the phone. Picking up the headset, she glared at it for several seconds. Coming to a decision, she shouted into the phone, "Leave me alone!" then slammed it down. Now THAT had been satisfying.
In her apartment, Lita was thinking maybe Raye had been right -- Serena was a little kid.
*
Bath time for Rini gave her mixed feelings. On the one hand, it meant she'd be headed to bed soon. Given how early it was, it just showed how much of a child she was. On the other hand, it was also a time when she and Serena talked. It allowed some privacy that both liked. The little girl supposed though that bathing with Serena gave her a very comforting feeling.
That night's bath time though proved to be an interesting one. Once both girls were in the large tub, Serena started describing how her day had gone.
When the blond described Raye's comments, Rini giggled and then flushed guiltily. The teen glared at her for a moment before adding in what Amy said. "No way!" Rini declared.
"Yes way!" Serena countered, "Amy's always siding with Raye."
"When?" The blue-haired Sailor Scout was usually the peacemaker between the two teens.
"Oh like back when that bitch Beryl was stomping around," was the teen's answer. The blond waved her hand dismissively. "Raye majorly didn't like the job I was doing so Amy..."
"You know about Queen Beryl?!?" Rini shouted whirled around, causing a wave of water to go over the side.
"Hey!"
"You know 'bout her?" the youngster demanded.
"Well like yeah."
Both girls' minds raced. Rini just couldn't see how the ditzy blond would know about Queen Beryl, the first leader of the Negaverse. Come to think of it, why did Serena have the Imperium Silver Crystal instead of her mother or Sailor Moon? Serena was desperately trying to think of a way to extricate her foot from her mouth. Of course thinking under pressure wasn't Serena's strong suit so she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"BerylfoughtmymomandsheusedtheSilverCyrstaltosendustoEarth. ThenIfoughtBerylandIusedtheSilverCrystaltoresetthingsbutI'mnotreallysure howIdidit."
The pink-haired girl stared at Serena for several seconds trying to digest what Serena had just confessed. "You're kidding?" she squeaked out, hoping against all hopes that Serena was making a very lucky (or bad) joke.
"Do you like think every girl has a talking cat?" Serena demanded.
Rini's eyes went wide. Luna talks? Her mother's cat Luna talked. They were one and the same cat! Things fell into place then. Serena watched with growing apprehension as Rini's eyes misted over and the little girl's lower lip started to tremble.
"Hey now, what's wrong, munchkin?" Serena asked.
"Mommy!" Rini shouted and lunging forward wrapped her arms around Serena's middle and buried her face against the blond's naked chest.
"Mommy?" Serena asked weakly, staring down at the youngster who was crying softly. "Like what the hell is going on?!" she demanded of the ceiling.