Friendly Fire

Written by Adrian Tymes

[Legal disclaimer:

This story is based on characters created by Naoko Takeuchi.  Permission
is granted to freely distribute this story, so long as:
a: no recompense of financial value is received or given by the person who
distributes the story, and
b: the distributed copy is identical to the story as originally authored.
In other words, don't sell it, and don't alter it.

Copyright (c) 1998, all rights reserved, et cetera.]

******

The apartment building was quiet, as usual for this time of night.  Its
residents, mostly students at the university just across the street, were
almost all still at class.  Even so, the stealthy intruder felt as if
someone was watching her.  Anyone who had seen her before would knew she
was coming to see Darian, but she wanted no witnesses to this visit.
Serena would be especially upset if she knew, as she would easily deduce
what was about to happen, as well as the truth about what she had recently
seen.

A scrape nearby brought the shadow's mind back to the present.  She had
seen no one there, but now she felt a presence.  Backing away slowly, the
dark form crouched behind a vending machine, hoping whoever it was did not
see her...

"Hey, Luna.  Where's the mouse?"

Luna's tension vanished at Darian's voice.  "Meow?"

"C'mon, I've been saving some cream for you."  Darian walked down the hall
a bit, unlocked his door, and held it open long enough for Luna to pass
through.  After making sure no one else was nearby, he carefully closed
the door.

"There's no mice in here-"

"WHAT HAPPENED?"  Darian nearly exploded when the door sealed his
conversation off from the world.  "How did Serena wind up in the hospital
like that?  You asked me to leave before the girls could tell me
anything."

"Now, just calm down, Darian."

"Calm down?!?  Luna, if Artemis was given one week to live, could you calm
down until you knew why?"

"Huh."  Luna turned up her nose.  "If that arrogant waste of fur wants to
have a kitten with me, he's going to have to learn a thing or two first.
I was just worried that I might have to keep Mina in line by myself."

"Something happened to Artemis?"  Darian's anger faded.  After three
seconds, he spoke again, with a commanding tone that he had first learned
a thousand years ago.  "Tell me what happened."

"I will.  But first, you must do me a favor."  Luna leapt into the air and
tumbled, leaving a trail of sparkles where she passed.  The sparkles
coalesced into a briefcase with a Chinese dragon embossed in gold on its
face.  "Destroy this briefcase, but take its contents.  Most importantly,
you must tell no one, not even Serena, that I gave it to you."

"Why?  What's..."  Darian's voice trailed off when he opened the
briefcase.  His hand reached in, and pulled out a neatly bound stack of
American dollars.

"There's precisely one million in there.  It is too valuable a resource to
waste, even if it is blood money."

"Who's blood?"

"Sailor V's."

The color drained from Darian's face.  "They killed Mina?  I saw her alive
just now..."

"Mina is quite alright.  Artemis and Amy will live, and the others are
physically ok, but you can bet they'll all have nightmares tonight."

Darian searched the briefcase, but found only money inside.

"It's a long story, Darian.  Before I tell you, you must promise me."

"Ok, Luna.  I'll do it.  I can set it up so the girls will never suspect
this money came from you."

"Good.  And the briefcase?"

"I'll put it in the garbage when you leave."

"No.  You must destroy it."

"Ok, ok, I'll make sure it never sees another sunset."

"Good.  I only ask because the girls think I destroyed it and the money,
and I do not wish to spoil their illusion."

"Now, the story."

"The story.  You know a few pieces that I do not, and I will be most
interested to hear them.  But, for now, let us start at the beginning."

******

It started at the Sailor meeting at Mina's house last Friday.  Although
Artemis and I tried to keep the girls focused on business, they would have
none of it, as usual.  I suppose it was to be expected.  After all, Queen
Beryl no longer threatened us, the alien pair had left, the time
travellers had been dealt with, and no other major evil had come to take
their place.  With no immediate need for the Sailor Scouts, the girls
quickly turned what I had hoped would be a training session into an excuse
to chat.

Serena and Raye were having another of their arguments, Mina was answering
a phone call, and Amy was showing a contraption to Lita.

"This is Mina's science project?" Lita asked.

"Uh-huh," answered Amy.  "I agreed to help her with it, if Mina helped me
with my own project."

"Your project?"  Lita chuckled.  "What can us mere mortals offer to she
who knows everything?"

Amy blushed.  "I don't know everything."

"It sure seems like it.  And I do want to know - maybe I could get you to
help me."

"You're my friend, Lita.  You only need to ask.  As for the exchange,
Mina's getting me access to the police database."

Lita gasped.  "You asked her to hack in to their computers?  Oh, Amy-"

"I did not.  She knows the chief of police; at least, Sailor V does, and
the chief knows that V is Mina.  Don't worry, I'm pretty sure she doesn't
know about the rest of us.  Besides, if I wanted to break in to a computer
system, there's much better targets than the police."

Lita giggled.  "That's true.  So, what's the project?"

"It's a fuel cell.  You know how you can get pure water by destroying it -
breaking it down into hydrogen and oxygen - then recombining it back?"

"Yeah, I know.  I'm not a complete ditz."

Amy half-smiled, wondering which of their friends that had been a
comparison to.  "Anyway, you have to put in electricity to break water
down, but you can get most of that back when you recombine.  This fuel
cell does the latter."

"Oh, so it's a kind of battery?"

"Something like that, although the chemistry is a bit different."  Amy
broke off as she noticed Mina approaching, wearing the widest smile Amy
had ever seen.  "It went well?"

"What did?" Mina replied, still smiling.

"The database.  You got access for me?"

"No, sorry, I'll take care of that later."  Her voice, like her face,
remained cheerful.

Amy frowned.  "Then, what was the call about?"

Mina's voice burst into a sing-song tone.  "There's a price on my head."

"WHAT?" all four other humans, and both cats, replied simultaneously.

"One million dollars."

The girls' jaws seemed ready to hit the floor.  Artemis and I, with our
heads less than a paw's length above the ground, carried out the metaphor
a bit more literally.

Serena was the first to react.  She had been in the middle of a tongue war
with Raye, each trying to look away from the other while still presenting
an annoying face.  The picture they now painted would have been comical if
anyone had been in the mood to laugh.  "Oh, Mina, I'm sorry..."

"Don't be.  It's only for Sailor V."  Mina relaxed from being extremely
happy to being merely happy.  "Someone's a bit miffed about the bank
robberies I've been foiling lately.  The police know who he is, and
they'll pick him up as soon as they have enough evidence.  They think
it'll take a couple weeks, and they're sure he does not know Sailor V's
secret identity."

Serena relaxed.  "Good."

"And he won't, even when she captures him."

"MINA!"  Serena was scandalized.  "No.  It's too dangerous.  The police
can handle it.  I don't want you risking your life like this."

"Come on, Serena.  It's not like I haven't done this before, even before I
met you guys."

"That was different.  Only we could fight those monsters.  Anyone can
handle these clowns."

"But, Serena..."

"I mean it.  No Sailor V until this is taken care of.  Not even Sailor
Venus, unless it's an emergency."

I was not sure whether to be more surprised by Mina's situation, or by
Serena's handling of it.  "At least she has learned to take charge," I
muttered to Artemis.

"Oh, alright," Mina sighed, clearly disappointed.  "Spoilsport."

"Don't you think that's a bit much?" Raye asked.  "Mina's right, she's
done this before.  If word got out that Sailor V took care of this..."

"...she would become a target for organized crime throughout Tokyo,
possibly all of Japan," Amy finished.  "Serena's right, it's too risky."

"Yeah, sure."  Raye smirked.  "I suppose you can tell us the exact odds of
that?"

Amy shrugged, brought out her computer, and began typing away.  "Well,
since you asked..."

Raye gaped for a second.  Amy looked up, giggled, and stuck her tongue at
Raye, who quickly recovered and returned the gesture.  Serena's tongue
leapt to Amy's defense, as Mina's did to Raye's.  None of them saw Lita
pick up a camera, but they all heard the click of their picture being
taken.  As one, they turned towards her, with varying degrees of amusement
and embarrassment on their faces.  Raye tossed a pillow in her direction.

Lita easily parried.  "Come on," she responded, "I can get you and Serena
anytime, but Amy and Mina...that's one for the scrapbook."

At that point, I gave up on any hope of getting anything useful done, and
walked off to rest until Serena was ready to go.

******

Darian scratched his head.  "Luna, could you just cut to the chase?  I
mean, how did Sailor V having a price on her head relate to Serena's
getting burned?"

"I do not know precisely what is relevant, and what is not.  As I said,
you know parts that I do not.  For instance, I understand you stopped by
the meeting shortly after I dozed off."

"Yeah.  By the time I got there, there was a major pillow fight going on.
I wondered what caused it.  But, nothing important happened while I was
there.  At least, nothing that seemed important.  I don't even remember
the exact words we said."

Luna sighed.  "You may be right, at least about that part.  I was hoping
there would be some missing piece that those details would help you
remember.  Besides, I'm in the mood for some storytelling."

"Right, whatever.  Just skip to the next piece that you know is
important."

"Very well.  That night, Amy had a nightmare..."

******

She was standing on a rock spire, which jutted a few hundred meters out of
an endless sea.  Dressed as Sailor Mercury, she was practicing controlling
the water, sending tidal waves wherever she pleased.  However, the water
level was rising.  It was too slow for her to notice at first, but
gradually, it ate away at her perch, then rose up around her, no longer
heeding her commands.  She tried to swim for the surface, but the water
rose faster than she could.  Even worse, the water itself seemed to be
pulling her down, as if imploding...

Amy woke up to find her room mysteriously drenched.

******

"Uh, Luna?" Darian queried.  "If it was her nightmare, how do you know
about it?"

"That was the last thing Amy remembered for quite some time.  She now
knows little of the following days, and it would perhaps be best if she
never remembers.  I will tell her everything, although I suspect she will
get most of the details from the others first."

Darian's confused look gradually gave way to a smile.  "Ok, Luna, I'm
listening.  Let me guess, the next important event was Amy's new job?"

"Indeed.  How did you know?"

"A couple days ago, Serena asked if I could check out Aqualite Industries.
When I asked why, she only said that Amy was working there.  She didn't
give me much information about the place."

"That's because none of us had heard of Aqualite Industries before, and
there were scarce business records.  I investigated them, too, after she
told us that they hired her as a part-time lab technician."

******

"Congratulations, Amy, that's wonderful news," Serena beamed.

Amy blushed.  "It's only temporary.  But they have agreed to show me how
everything works, perhaps even let me run an experiment or two.  I'm going
to learn so much..."

"Yeah, if they keep their word," Raye snapped.

We had been walking home, but now, Serena and Amy stopped two steps behind
Raye, as a moment of silence chilled their moods.  I could feel the sudden
tension in the air.

"What's eating you?" Serena asked.  "Do you know them?"

Raye sighed, then turned around to face her friends.  "I'm getting a bad
feeling about them."

"It's because of their name, right?  Aqualite, Malachite, Zoicite,
Nephlite...I already asked, and they told me there was no connection.  I
believe them."

"Amy?" Serena tried to ask, but was cut off by Amy's continuation.

"Or, is it another one of your 'mystic readings'?  As I recall, the first
time we saw you do one of those, you brained Serena with one of your
papers."

"Amy!" Serena interrupted, her eyes wide.  "Do they know...?"

Amy smiled and winked.  "It's actually Sailor Mercury who works there.
They recovered some artifacts from the Negaverse's former bases, and I'm
helping them analyze the technology."

Raye scowled.  "So, you just waltzed into this lab, happened to see the
artifacts, transformed right in front of the receptionist, and applied for
a job?"

"No, actually, they sought me out, three days ago."

Serena's face reflected her question.  "What was Sailor Mercury doing
three days ago?  We haven't seen any monsters in weeks."

"Giving a press conference.  SOMEONE had to explain our battles to the
public.  Their lack of information was starting to generate rumors."

Raye snorted.  "So, you put out new ones instead?"

Serena glanced from Amy to Raye.  "Geez, you two need to lighten up."

Amy shrugged.  "Tell you what, Raye, just to prove that your misgivings
are groundless, I'll take you on a tour of the lab tomorrow, half an hour
after school.  You, too, Serena."  She knelt and scratched my ears with
one hand.  "Sorry, Luna, but they don't allow cats inside."  She smiled,
held out her other hand to Raye, and winked.  "Wear your best."

Raye relaxed, and shook Amy's hand.  "Ok."  She grinned.  "But, if this is
some Negaverse trap..."

"...you can kill me afterwards.  Oh, there's my bus!"  Amy dashed off to a
nearby bus stop, and hopped on the bus that had just pulled up.

I watched her leave.  "What an odd thing for her to say.  And, that bus
doesn't go anywhere near her house."

"Don't sweat it, Luna," Serena responded.  "Hey, Raye, what do you think
the chances are that there's some cute guy working there?"

Raye looked down her nose at Serena.  "You've already got Darian."

"Not for me, for Amy."  Serena grinned.  "She's deficient in the boyfriend
department."

"She's already got one, even if she doesn't see him that much.  I would
have expected that from Mina, but from you?  Speaking of which, shouldn't
we invite Mina and Lita to the tour?  I mean, if they *are* Negaverse
artifacts..."

"No can do.  Lita's got detention for the rest of the week, and Mina's
turning in her project after school tomorrow.  They'll be delayed for at
least an hour."

"Amy knew this," I added, waiting for Amy's bus to turn a corner and leave
our sight.  "She should have delayed the tour until they could come.
Bring your wards, Raye; there is evil afoot.  This might very well be a
trap."

"Luna?"  Raye blinked.  "What's going on?"

"You didn't hear about the attack?" Serena responded.

"I was on a field trip today.  I didn't get back until just before school
got out.  What attack?"

"A bunch of water monsters burst out of the fountains at lunch.  They were
easy enough to take care of, but no one has a clue where they came from,
or what they were after."  Serena chuckled.  "The first one appeared when
Amy was drinking.  It tried to solidify in her mouth.  The look on her
face...now that I think about it, it was priceless."

"I bet it didn't seem so funny at the time."

"Of course not.  We're going to go over what happened at Amy's place after
dinner.  Can you make it?"

"Sure.  See you then."

******

"And nothing happened until the meeting?" Darian guessed.

"Actually, a lot happened, but nothing that we were aware of at the time.
Our first clue was that Amy was not home when we arrived.  Her mother let
us in to wait for her.  Clue number two was that Mina showed up without
Artemis, and none of us could raise him on our communicators.  The third
clue came shortly thereafter..."

******

We ran out of the house when we heard tires squealing.  I got to the curb
first just in time to see an old car, riddled with dents and bullet holes,
swerve through the street.  As it passed, someone inside tossed Amy out
through an open window.  The car sped off before I could make out too many
details, just as Raye, Mina, and Lita arrived.

All three were speechless when they saw Amy's unconscious body.  Raye and
Lita nodded to each other and picked her up, while Mina tried to stifle
her reaction - whether she wanted to throw up or scream, I could not tell.
Either one would have been excusable, given the shock of seeing Amy
covered in bruises.  It was obvious that most had been given to her before
she left the car.  Just as I had collected myself enough to hope that Amy
was still alive...

"MOON CRYSTAL HEALING ACTIVATION!"

Even after all we have been through, I still wonder how the Moon Princess
could have been reborn as Serena, or even if I did not actually force some
innocent Earth girl to become Sailor Moon.  It is moments like that one
that renew my faith in her.

Raye and Lita laid Amy on a couch as her marks finished fading away, and
Sailor Moon turned back into Serena.  Raye looked up, eyes furrowed, as
Serena followed Mina in.  "You should have waited until we got inside.
People could have seen you!"

There are times that I wonder about Raye, too.

"I checked!  There was no one around.  Besides, she could have been dying
for all I knew."

"I was..." Amy croaked.

******

Darian's face went sheet white.  "I thought you said she'll live..."

Luna blinked.  "Oh, sorry, bad choice of words," she eventually replied.

******

"I was..." Amy cro...er, said.

Serena looked at Amy for a bit, then turned and stuck her tongue at Raye.

Instead of replying in kind, Raye slapped Serena and stormed off,
grumbling to herself as she went back outside.

Serena rubbed her cheek.  "What's with her?"

I was the only one paying them attention at the moment, as Mina was
questioning Amy while Lita checked her for any remaining bruises.

Mina's cry of "ARTEMIS?" got my attention.

"What's this about Artemis?" I asked as I quickly joined them.

"They kidnapped him," Amy replied, "when I went to see him.  They got me,
too, but agreed to let me go if I delivered a message to his owner."

"If anyone thinks that beating up a friend's going to stop the Sailor
Scouts..."  Lita started.

"They don't care about us.  They did that when I swore I did not know
Sailor V."

Mina gulped.  "The crime lord?  The one who put the reward out?"

Amy nodded.  "That's my guess.  He told me, if I did see Sailor V, to tell
her to take a vacation if she wanted Artemis to live."  She looked up.
"I'm sorry, Mina.  They had a knife to his throat the whole time.  If I
had tried anything, even just becoming Sailor Mercury..."

Mina put a hand on Amy's shoulder.  "It's ok.  You did the best you could,
and at least he's still alive.  I'll get him back.  I can just follow the
tracking beacon in his collar..."

Amy pulled a sliced collar out of her pocket.  "They thought you might,
and I eventually convinced them that I did not know you.  I was supposed
to give you the message when you found me."

Lita and Serena continued to comfort Amy and Mina, while I went outside to
see what was the matter with Raye.

I tried to sneak up on her using the tree she was sitting under.  Just as
I was about to jump onto her shoulder, she asked, "Did you feel it, too?"

"Feel what?" I replied, staying on a branch above her head.

"An evil I haven't felt since..."  She closed her eyes in thought.

"Since?"

"Since before I died."  She looked at me, and for once, I read fear in her
eyes.  "We destroyed the Negaforce, didn't we, Luna?"

"Yes."  I feigned confidence, but I had no way of knowing for sure.  Even
before the destruction of the Moon Kingdom, I didn't know half of what
they were capable of.  I still don't remember everything I knew then.

"And there's no way they could have possessed Serena?"

I nearly fell off my branch.  "WHAT???"  Leaping down to her side, I tried
to read her face for clues, but found none.  "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that the evil I felt seemed to be coming from Serena."

I was about to respond when we both sensed it.  Serena was in danger,
again.

******

"9 PM, last Tuesday?" Darian queried.

"Yes.  You felt it too?"

"Yeah, but I was with some friends.  I got away as fast as I could, but
the feeling was already gone."

"Well, it was a very short fight.  Raye and I never even saw the enemy
this time.  By the time we returned to the house, the other Sailor Scouts
were already celebrating another victory.  It was another one of those
water monsters, which presumably gained entry through the pipes.  Its
presence at our meeting allowed only one conclusion: whoever controlled
them was after us."

"Hmm...water monsters...Luna, didn't you mention something about one of
the Negaforce's minions using water monsters?  Piranha, or something?"

"Titana...or was it Titus?"  Luna pondered for a second, but quickly
dismissed her own question..  "We defeated her when I had only found
Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Mars.  As I recall, you missed
that particular adventure."

"Huh.  So, what happened at the tour the next day?  Was Aqualite holding
any Moon artifacts?"

"We did not get a look inside.  Not until later, anyway."

******

Raye was waiting at the steps to Aqualite Industries' laboratory, already
transformed into Sailor Mars.  Someone had had a sense of decoration when
designing it, as it looked from the outside like a small replica of an
ancient samurai warlord's palace.  But the only thing Raye saw was Serena,
who had stopped by her house and put on her best pink dress before
arriving.

Serena could see Raye's expression half a block away.  "What?"

Raye ran up to her and hissed, "We were supposed to be in our Sailor
uniforms, idiot.  Transform before somebody sees you!"

"What?  But I thought Amy said to wear our best.  Those uniforms are
definitely not on the cutting edge of fashion."

"And that dress is?"

I could sense trouble brewing.  "Girls, please.  Serena, transform.  Raye,
we can discuss aesthetics when Amy is not waiting for us."  I pointed back
down the street, to where Sailor Mercury had just stepped out and was
distracting what evidently was to be our tour guide.

Serena held her brooch, but noticed Raye twinge.  "Come on, Raye, I can't
look that bad."

"Evil..." Raye whispered.

Completely forgetting what she was about to do, Serena looked at her
dress.  "You really think?"

"So much evil..."  She turned to face Amy, clasped her hands, and closed
her eyes.  "MARS..."

"Raye?"

"...FIRE..."  A speck of fire began circling her fingers.

Serena noticed what Raye was aiming at.  "RAYE, NO!!!"  She interposed
herself between the Sailor Scouts, flailing her arms.

Too late.  "...IGNITE!"  Raye opened her eyes just in time to see the
flames engulf Serena.

******

Luna noticed Darian go through several stages of emotions.  Just before
rage could set in, she added, "I refuse to believe that Raye was
responsible for her actions at the time.  Something must have forced her
to attack."

Darian's anger simmered.  "Something did.  I'm still not sure if that
something was Raye, or..."

"Or?" Luna asked after a pause.

Darian shook his head.  "Just go on with the story.  I assume you followed
Raye to find out her motives; her actions will tell me if she was at
fault."

"I did, but not for that reason."

*******

Amy counterattacked with her fog, managing to put out Serena, but not
before Serena had already fainted.  Raye stood in shock, as did I, while
Amy ran up and checked Serena's pulse.

I will never forget the look on her face when she looked up at Raye.
Neither, I suspect, will Raye.  It was mask of utter hatred, beyond
anything I have seen on our enemies.

Amy's voice was as cold as ice.  "How *COULD* you?" she spat.

Raye still did not move, but tears were slowly rolling from her eyes.
However, sadness did not seem to be her main emotion, but rather fear.

I knew her well enough to know what was going through her mind, so I was
already placing the first of two calls on a nearby pay phone when Raye
broke the silence by running away.  When I finished, I looked at Amy, who
had already detransformed and was tending to Serena.  I would have liked
to have helped more, but I had already summoned an ambulance for Serena,
and Amy was more than capable of keeping her stable until it arrived.
Raye, on the other hand, was in immediate danger.  Fortunately, I knew a
series of shortcuts that allowed me to get to her temple before she did,
even with her head start.

------

Raye was kneeling in front of the fire, trying to calm herself enough to
invoke its guidance, while I pretended to sleep next to the fire.  I
figured she would talk to me when she was ready, but I made sure she knew
I was following her since she arrived.  Even with my eyes closed, however,
I could hear Chad cautiously tiptoe in.  He was apparently trying to be
silent, but not hard enough.

"Leave me alone, Chad.  It's bad enough I got one shadow."  She gestured
to me as if trying to bat an airborne speck of dust away.

"Whoa, are you, like, okay?  Some hysterical woman called and warned me to
hide the sharp objects from you.  She was afraid you were gonna commit
suicide or somethin'."

Raye glared at me, but I pretended not to notice.

******

"Suicide?  She might have been depressed, Luna, but suicide?"

The cat gave a good imitation of a shrug.  "I figured that erring on the
side of caution would be prudent in this case."

******

"No, Chad, I wasn't going to make things worse."

Thick as he was, even Chad could not miss that sign.  "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."  Raye faced away from Chad.  "Please
leave."

A few seconds of silence passed.  I opened my eyes for a brief glance, and
to my suprise saw that Chad had walked up to the fire without making a
sound, and was now kneeling in front of it.  I was completely unprepared
for what came next.

"Oh, sacred fire, please tell me what's bumming my friend Raye."

Raye whipped around, also suprised.  "Chad, what are you doing?"

Chad did not answer for a few seconds, intent instead on reading the
flames.  "You hurt someone close to you...Serena..."

Raye stood between Chad and the flames, cutting off his reading.  "That's
enough, Chad!"

He relaxed.  "That's ok, I wasn't getting much anyway.  I guess I need
more practice."

"That, you do," Raye's grandfather replied from the doorway, where he had
followed Chad in.  "But you're making progress.  I was beginning to think
you'd never be able to use the fire."

"Well, I guess it helped to have a focus.  I mean, from the tone of that
lady on the phone, I thought Raye might, like..."

Raye chose that moment to step on my tail.  I pulled it out from under her
foot before she could put her full weight on it, but it still hurt.  From
Chad's surprised glance, I surmised that my yowl was his first clue that I
was there, despite the fact that I had been in plain sight all along.

An uneasy silence descended again, and once again, Chad broke it.  "So,
like, what did you do to her?"

"She nearly killed her," Raye's grandfather answered for her.  "Her friend
Amy just called.  Serena's not expected to live more than a week."

That got Raye's attention.  "Called?"  She fingered her communicator.  "We
got these things so we could talk to each other directly..."

"She said she did not want to break the news to you herself.  She said
several other things, most of which I will not repeat."  He looked at his
descendant, frowning.  "And none of which I would prefer to believe.  I
have never known Amy to lie, but I can not imagine you deliberately
setting anyone on fire, especially not Serena."

I lost most of the ensuing conversation as I contemplated this new event.
Seeing that Raye was now definitely safe from herself...

******

"...as if that was ever a worry," Darian quipped.

******

The comments of a certain peanut gallery notwithstanding, I decided to go
see Lita and Mina, who were just then getting out of school.

Mina's communicator was not responding, and Amy was not answering hers, so
I briefed Lita on the afternoon's events as I headed for Mina's house.  As
expected, Lita had no new information on the situation, aside from the
fact that Amy had not contacted her yet.  I guessed that Amy planned to
break the news at school the next day.  The only reason I could think of
for the delay troubled me, although it turned out to be correct.

My contemplation was interrupted as my tail narrowly avoided its second
crushing of the day.  I skidded to a halt to see who had nearly stepped on
it this time...

"Sorry, Luna," Sailor V said.  "I didn't see you there."
Continue... Raye's Diary

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