Fatal Fury Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ To Earth and Mars ❯ Remember ( Chapter 4 )

To Earth and Mars: Chapter 4

By: Lady Goldmoon

For an American, Andy Bogard truly hated the States. Looking out over the hustle-and-bustle that New York City is, he found himself longing for the peaceful atmosphere found at a training dojo. Ever since his father's death, Japan was his home.

"Now Mai, on the other hand, is going to need some 'convincing' to ever leave… hmm maybe we should have stayed home," thought Andy Bogard, as their plane neared Kennedy Airport. He looked over at his sleeping fiancé, clinging to his left arm (she was gaining some well needed energy as she put it), and a slow smile spread on his handsome face. "She really is breathtaking - only when she isn't talking though," he mused. "I guess this trip will do her some good; it's the first time in ages that we're all getting together again." All of us being defined as Mai, Joe, Terry and him; it had been nearly two years since the four of them had been in each other's presence at the same time.

"Just once I wish that it didn't have some sense of foreboding; that we were just trying to enjoy each other's company," Andy silently prayed. The last time they had gotten together, the number in their group had increased to five, then back down to four in less than a month. If anything, Terry had become even more solitary, calling on Andy and Joe fewer and fewer till finally they heard from him only once every six months; life dealt his brother some harsh cards, and it seemed like he would never gamble again.

"All flight attendants prepare for arrival."

At the sound of the Captain's voice, Andy turned to Mai and gently woke her up, shaking her shoulder softly. "Andy?" she murmured in a sleepy voice.

"Hey Mai, we're almost in New York so c'mon sleepy head; wake up!" he joked, tucking a strand of crimson hair behind her ear.

"Oh you just wait, you're going to be wishing that you'd slept too," she responded tiredly, wiping the sleep from her eyes. "Besides, I plan on enjoying some of New York's nightlife, tonight!" she exclaimed gleefully.

"I hope you plan on enjoying it by yourself," Andy smirked, as he returned to his novel.

"Party pooper," Mai murmured under her breath; Andy really was no fun! All her work at turning him into the sexiest man alive was for nothing… then suddenly, his voice was decidedly close to her, whispering, "At least I won't be exhausted for some other activities," he said, as he bit gently on her ear. Mai's breath hitched and a soft gasp could be heard from her.

. . .

"It's going to be a long day," thought Darien Chiba, as he sighed. Today he and Serena left for New York, to watch Lita compete in Women's World Martial Arts Championship; at least, that was the official story told to all the couple's friends and Serena's parents. In reality, for the first time in nearly four years, there was a threat to the Earth. Darien hoped; no, he prayed, that it wasn't serious at all. They were one scout short, and they hadn't seen battle for a while; in fact, they were getting rusty. And if Mina hadn't been keeping it a secret for this long, looking for Rei to see if it were true, then maybe they could have started looking for this threat earlier. Putting his bags in the trunk of his car, Darien leaned against its side, waiting for Serena to say her goodbyes and bring down her things. He smirked; maybe Mina's premonition was a good thing; at the very least, it made the scouts mention her name finally. But then again that wasn't the best thing in the world; from his emails with Rei, he didn't believe for a minute that she had forgiven them; hell, he didn't even think he had forgiven them. Smiling sadly, his thoughts once again returned to that year after Rei disappeared, one of the most difficult in his life.

. . .

At first, Darien had thought Rei had gone somewhere to cool off, so he had stayed in his apartment, trying to explain to each of the scouts exactly what had happened. Yet, none seemed ready to even listen to his explanation, except Mina, Michirou and Setsuna; they sensed something else entirely. Serena, however, could not be appeased; she just sat there shaking here head even when Darien tried to approach. She sat there and silently cried. The rest of the scouts moved into Darien's living room and remained there, talking about what punishment would befit the two of them.

"Rei should be removed from the Sailor Scouts immediately," raged Lita, fuming as she walked around. Tossing her hands in the air, she said, "If she can betray Serena like this, then she can betray any one of us at our most critical times! In battle for instance!"

"You guys," Mina began again, patiently, "I really don't think something was going; you know Rei if she had, she would have been trying to deny it up and down. She just left. I'm telling you, something is not right."

At this point, Jupiter turned her head once again to say something totally uncalled for but before she could reply, Amy stepped in saying, "I know you feel that way Mina, but look at the facts: we caught them in bed together, and Darien was protecting her… it leads me to believe one thing, and that's"

"No!," Mina yelled, surprising them. "I refuse to believe that Rei would do that, and I can't believe that you guys think that she would! What makes you even consider that Rei would betray anyone like that?! It's not like her at all!"

"But Mina," answered a very soft voice. Everyone looked towards young Saturn, who was speaking for the first time since they had arrived. "From what I know, Rei was with Darien before Serena, right?"

"Yes, its true; but that was nearly 3 years ago! That doesn't mean anything!" Mina replied. "I was there; from the beginning Rei gave Darien up!"

"But the attraction was there, was it not?" asked Hotaru. "And they are very close; Rei is the closet one to Darien among us because of it, and with them working together for Rei's night, they had a chance to grow even closer… it adds up, Mina."