Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Phoenix ❯ The Beginnings of Vacation ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, or any of the Sailor Scouts/Senshi (whatever). I do not want to own them either. Though, if I did, I would have a lot more money than I do now.

Sorry for this chapter taking so long, I've been working on other things. Mainly my other story. Anyway, you all know what happened in the last chapter, therefore there is no need for a summary here. And now, with further adieu, I give you chapter 4.

Chapter 4: The Beginnings of Vacation

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Ami's apartment, 4 AM

Phoenix woke up on the couch; it was still dark out. He stood and walked over to the small balcony. Looking up he saw that the swirl of color had decreased in size, though it was still very big. Climbing up onto the railing he sat there, still looking up, thinking. All he wore were some boxers and some mesh shorts, green.

"Yesterday was interesting," he said to himself, "though I thought I would be able to rest."

He smiled and looked down. People were stepping out of the building. People walking dogs, cats, or just plain walking. So many different people here, but soon none of this would matter.

"I told her I wouldn't have to go back to that asteroid," he looked up at the moon, framed blue against the color spectrum behind it. "I wonder if she's figured out what I meant?"

"What did you mean?" he heard her ask from behind him, but he didn't turn around. He heard her walk up behind him and slide her arms around his abdomen. "What did you mean by that?"

"In one week, I'm going to be with my mother," he said staring blankly at the moon.

"You mean?" the shaking in her voice growing with every word.

"Yes, I'm going to die."

"Everyone has the chance to change their destiny," she said the shaking in voice quickly leaving, "even you."

These words made him think long and hard. After that her turned around and leaned down. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him with great passion.

"One thousand years is too long," he said breaking the kiss for a second for air, "For two people to be apart." Ami just nodded at this.

"What do you want to do tomorrow?" she asked the shaking gone.

"I'm not sure, there's so much here," he said looking off to the side of the balcony. "I'd kind of like to go there." He pointed at the large, glowing, red tower.

"I can take you there," she said, "though, there isn't much to see."

"Still," he said like it was all he needed to say.

"Come on, if we want to go see the tower then we should get some sleep," she said in a matter-of-factly tone. Phoenix immediately started towards the couch. "Not there, follow me."

She led him down the short hallway to the last door. Opening it she stepped into a semi-small bedroom. Thought it was small the queen-sized bed fit just fine. Phoenix was puzzled as to why she would buy something so large; she had a small frame.

"I couldn't figure out why I bought this until now," she said climbing onto the bed. "It had been nagging me ever since I moved out of my parent's house. Now I know why I got it, because of you." She reached out and grabbed his hand. Pulling him onto the bed she kissed him again, and pulled the covers over them both.

The next day, around noon

Phoenix sat at he table on the sidewalk café. He was waiting for Ami to return with the food that she promised him. Hearing a song being played on the speakers, he cocked his head slightly. Looking around he saw several people start to move around in a manner strange to him. No one else seemed to be bothered, so he decided to forget about them.

"The line must be long in there," he heard a familiar voice say. Turning around he saw Darien standing over him.

"And you want what?" he asked slightly annoyed. He was used to being snuck up on, but he still disliked this person.

"To talk, you know, catch up on old times," Darien said taking a seat next to Phoenix.

"There's nothing to catch up on," he retorted, "I've been on an asteroid for a thousand years, and the only thing interesting about you is that you're an orphan, destined to be king."

"Now that we're all caught up, can I ask you something about Ami?"

"You just did, but go ahead."

"Jeez, you're uptight," he shifted in the chair slightly. "I wanted to ask if you and Ami have done it yet?"

"Done what?" Phoenix asked thoroughly confused by this. He's a thousand years behind the times remember.

"You know, have you had sex?" he asked in an almost whisper.

"No, we haven't, and I don't see what business it is of yours," he retorted very annoyed now.

"Hey, don't kill the messenger. I'm only asking because Serena wanted to know," Darien said backing away a little. "She has to pry into people's lives like that."

"Then why didn't she ask me herself?"

"She's going to ask Ami later today, so don't tell her I asked you okay?" he said getting up to leave.

"Fine," Phoenix answered seeing Ami coming out of the door, a plate in each hand. Turning he saw that Darien was gone. `Why the hell would I tell her that?'

"How are you enjoying Earth?" Ami asked taking a bit of her fish sandwich. She smiled and lightly wiped away the crumbs from the corners of her mouth. (A/N: This is a few minutes after Darien left, I hope you figured that out.)

"It's okay," he answered throwing a bone onto his plate. He had a plate of buffalo wings, all had been eaten within a few minutes. "Though I'm not sure why humans are so plentiful after the wars."

"What wars?" she asked dropping the sandwich to the plate.

"The wars between the Earth and the Moon. You don't remember?"

She shook her head.

"Long ago the kingdoms of the Earth and the Moon fought for supremacy. In the end neither kingdom won, though both had decimated each other's populations. I'm surprised the Earth had become so populated since then," he explained. "It was a great upset to both peoples. I'm one of the few who knows about it."

"Why do you expect me to know?" she asked expecting more detail.

"Because I told you."

"Oh."

"You know why Earth has recovered, don't you?" he leaned towards her.

"Well…I think it's because of the transfer of the Moon kingdom's population to Earth. That's my best guess," she shrugged unsure of her answer.

"You didn't guess, you knew."

A few hours later, Rei's shrine/home

Phoenix stood looking up at the large arch that stood over him. Looking to the side he saw Lita and Mina; both, he just found out, are bi. The thought still sent a cold feeling down his spine. Mina was staring at him, and Lita was attempting to talk to her. Serena had pulled Ami to the side and was asking her the exact thing that Darien asked him.

"So, have you and Phoenix done it yet?" she asked her hyper prying voice.

"We almost did last night, but I didn't think it was time," Ami said blushing a deep crimson.

"You almost did, who almost does it? That's not right!" Serena exclaimed, though she was whispering.

"Calm down Serena. Him and me, we're not like you an' Darien," Ami retorted quickly.

"Meaning what?" Serena inquired an eyebrow starting to twitch.

"I've heard you talking," she said then using a voice very much like Serena's said, "`Oh yeah, now that I've moved in with Darien we fuck every night.'"

"I never said that," Serena stepped back slightly, as if to show she was bigger; though, she was pitifully smaller.

"Ask any of the others, they'll all reassure you that you did," Ami turned and walked towards Phoenix, who had heard everything.

`My sister has become a pitiful, whining idiot,' he thought with a sigh. `It's good to know that she actually matures in the future.'

"Hey Phoenix," Ami said stepping up in front of him, "Serena just asked me the stupidest question."

"I know," he said opening his eyes and looking down at her, she was still blushing.

"You do?"

"Yes, Darien asked me the same thing," he answered shrugging and moving towards the room with the eternally burning fire.

"You can't go in there," Ami said grabbing his arm. "You can't while Rei is doing a reading."

"I was wondering where she was."

"You want to leave?" she asked leaning against him.

"There's no place to go," he said almost as if he was asking her to take him somewhere.

"Yes there is, there is always a place to go," she said pulling herself tighter to him.

"Where?"

"There's a small island off the coast that we sometimes go to."

"Picture it in your mind, and I'll take us there," he said pulling her to him. "We'll leave the others a note."

"Okay," she closed her eyes and began picturing the island in her mind. The waves lightly sweeping into the shore, the trees of the rainforest silently swaying in the wind, the small cottage on the shore, and, best of all, the small, warm, secluded lake and waterfall in the middle of the island. The sounds of the tropical birds, and the small noises that usually accompany a rainforest. It was a moment before she realized that her feet were slowly sinking beneath her.

Opening her eyes she saw that she was on the beach. Looking down she saw she was wearing a blue bathing suit with a light blue towel around her waist. Phoenix was back to normal; his wings extended, and wearing just a pair of shorts.

"Well?" he asked cocking his head to the side with a smile.

"Is this the real thing, or am I imagining it?"

"It's real."

"But why are my clothes different?"

"That is how you saw yourself in your mind's eye. This is how you thought I should look," he said dropping down to a sitting position on the warm sand. "It was somewhat difficult to find this place; many islands are exactly the same."

She sat down next to him and asked, "What about the others, can you bring them here?"

"Yes, now or later?" he said slowly leaning and kissing her. She eagerly returned the kiss.

"Now," she said quickly.

He snapped his fingers and there they were, all ten of them. They looked around, then at each other, then at themselves, and finally at Phoenix and Ami. All of them were wearing bathing suits, I don't feel like describing them, so just picture what you think they should be wearing.

"Why are we here?" Haruka asked in a curious voice. She hadn't been here before.

"I was bored," Phoenix said, "and so were all of you."

"I have to open my restaurant in, like, ten minutes!" Lita said looking down at her watch.

"All time outside this island has been frozen," he said calmly, "so don't throw a fit about being late for something. We have twenty four hours till it wears off."

There was something wrong though; they could all feel it. Something was missing.

"Where are Serena and Darien?" Hotaru asked looking around.

"Good question," Rini said also noticing they were not there.

Phoenix pointed into the forest, "There."

Everyone saw the path, it has always been there, leading to a small lake. The lake was small, more like a pond, but slightly larger. It was elliptical in shape, oval for you lowbrows. For something this small it was extremely deep in the center; guessed to be around 50 feet. There was a small beach on one side that was always cast in shadow by the trees. But on the other side the shore was covered with large boulders. These boulders were smooth from the many hurricanes that had passed over the island, and, because of the tree-line position, were always warm from being in the sun.

The lake itself was always clear with a slight aquamarine color to it. It was also always warm from being in the sun twelve hours a day. Think of it as a huge heated swimming pool. To one side of it is waterfall, cascading down from a large lake that now occupies the crater of the dormant volcano. Dormant, as in still active, as in not extinct. The waterfall was about 40 feet tall and only 3 feet wide; to stand under it was like taking a shower.

When the others arrived (A/N: only eight of them arrived, Rini and Hotaru stayed behind.) at the small beach they saw Serena and Darien, buck-naked in middle of the lake. Mina, who was at the moment horny as hell, began taking her bathing suit off and moving into the water. She turned to look over her shoulder and winked at Phoenix.

He rolled his eyes and said, "Pathetic."

After that he turned on his heel, his wings sweeping around like a cape, and walked back towards the beach. Upon his arrival he saw Rini and Hotaru making a sandcastle. He smiled and started walking along the beach, away from them. Finally stopping, his thoughts were racing. So much was different from what he thought it would be. He could read people's actions, but not their thoughts, something he wished he could do. Opening his wings he floated for a second a foot above the ground before taking off to find a place to think. And he found it.

Back at the lake some of the people were stunned, others didn't seem to mind. The people who were stunned were Ami, Lita, Haruka, Michelle, Trista, and Rei. None of them expected him to do that. The people who didn't mind were Mina, Serena, and Darien. They were doing something that I don't really want to type.

"Wonder why he did that?" Lita said breaking the awkward silence.

"Something about Mina and Serena being pathetic," Haruka said thoroughly enjoying this insult. She doesn't like Mina or Serena remember. She's accepted them, but still doesn't like them. "Personally I agree."

"How can you say that?" Michelle asked attempting to be the voice of reason.

"Easy," she answered pointing at the three in the lake, "would you call that a refined princess, or pathetic?"

"It's not for us to judge," Michelle retorted. Then seeing that Trista was strangely silent she asked, "What do you think?"

"He has the right to call them that," Trista answered opening her eyes. "He didn't expect them to change over time. You, Haruka, and me haven't changed, and Hotaru is still young. To him us Serena is acting normal, to him she's a pathetic disgrace. It's his right to speak his mind."

"I suppose you're right," Michelle said finally admitting defeat. The goddess of Pluto was much better at settling things than she was. "Still he didn't have to say it out loud."

"There he is!" Ami yelled pointing at the silhouette in the sky, heading for the summit of the mountain. She then took off running through the woods to the mountain.

The mountain, like I said, was a dormant volcano. It rose almost 2,000 feet above sea level, right up into the clouds. There was forest on it but only to a certain point, after that was just shrubbery, and after that were just rocks. The hole in the summit was 100 feet across, and was a large round lake that was always warm from the hot rocks at the bottom. To one side was the rift that fed the stream that fed the waterfall that fed the lake. In the center was a single, solitary island, on which was a large tree. This tree was a giant black oak, rare stuff. Its roots erupted through the surface of the ground and could be seen stretching out into the water. Now, you're probably asking yourself why is the tree so big? This is the answer, volcanic soil (such as lava flows or areas around volcanoes, or this island) is very rich in minerals and basically has a never-ending supply of nutrients for plants; like miracle grow. This is also why farmers are always growing their crops around volcanoes. Sure there's the chance that they all get burned, but the soil is so rich that they can re-grow. This is where Phoenix decided to land.

He stepped down onto the root-infested island, seeing the privacy he would have here, and plenty of shade, he walked over and sat under the tree. He sat in a place that seemed to already be a chair. It was worn into the trunk and was smooth as newly frozen ice. The notch was at ground level so he didn't have to effect the surroundings in any way to put his feet up (A/N: I like to put my feet up wherever I am, why shouldn't he?).

The ground beneath him was warm, and the notch where he sat was smooth. Every once in a while a few bubbles would drift up from the bottom of the lake. There was the sound of birds singing in the tree above him. He wasn't sure what kind of birds live at this altitude, but there was a tree here, why not birds. He sat there with his eyes closed, taking deep breaths. The land smelled slightly of sulfur, but that was normal for an area like this.

"Why is everyone here so," he thought for a moment for a word, "different. Serena used to be so proud, and what some like her should be. Now she's a stupid, pathetic whore. Mina used to be shy and kept back, now she's almost as bad as my sister. Fools."

He sank down into a laid down position and stared up at the multi-colored birds flitting through the tree branches. Smiling he yawned and kicked off the boots he was still wearing. Instantly the ground beneath his feet began to turn brown and charred. Realizing his mistake he quickly pulled his boots back on. He remembered what his mother had told him about his body. As long as his feet were covered he was approachable. Without them he would begin to generate abnormal amounts of heat. He would be unaffected, but everything within a 20 foot radius would be burned to a cinder. Only the special material that his boots were made of neutralized this heat. (A/N: Odd, I know, but hey you got to admit, the idea of that much heat is pretty cool.)

"Why am I constantly getting asked these annoying questions?" he slammed his fist onto the ground and feeling the entire mountain shake. "Have you slept with her yet? My first day on this planet and they have to ask me that. Pathetic, ignorant fools. Who am I to judge, it's not like I expected them to exactly the same as they were all those years ago. But I did expect that."

His ears pricked up hearing his name called. Standing he walked out from under the trees wide branches and looked towards the sky. A small stream of glittering somethings were floating down towards him. When they touched the ground they formed into a person, a person he knew.

"Mom?" he asked stepping forward a step.

"Yes, Phoenix," she replied with a small nod. She looked exactly the same as the last time he saw her. "I wanted to ask why you're here, instead of down there?" she asked looking down at the water, which rippled and displayed the scenes of Ami running through the woods; Rini and Hotaru building their fourth sand castle; Lita cooking in the small cottage on the beach; and the three outer scouts sunbathing. The people it didn't show were the ones he didn't want to see.

"I needed time to think," he said his eyes following the image of Ami, who had now reached the base of the mountain and had started up the path.

"I understand."

"Do you really understand what I mean?" he asked slowly losing his temper.

"Yes, I too used to have to find someplace secluded and quiet to think," his mother said walking to stand next to him. The images disappeared with the next ripple of the water. She placed a hand on his shoulder, "Do not think of your sister as pathetic, just think of her as…incomplete."

"Why?"

"You'll see, later," Serenity stepped forward and kissed her son on the cheek. "Good bye, my son."

"Good bye, Mother," he hugged her and she stepped back, turning into those glittering things, she ascended. "Wonder what she meant."

TBC

I wonder what she did mean. You'll find out later, as soon as I can think of what she meant. This chapter was shorted than I wanted it to be and I had to change the title. Sorry for making you all wait. I hope to get more reviews. I would have put a lemon in, but I'm not too good at those. Have to ask my friend. She's very good at lemons, and limes. Limes being yuri. I'll ask her to put one in for me. One review is not enough. Thanks to all those who did review. Yes you, the one single person who actually put something. Just tell me what you want and I'll put it in, how's that. Tell me what you think, even if you don't like it, tell me; I'll stop. If you don't feel like reviewing online e-mail me at berserk_fury001@yahoo.com. Thanks again. Be sure to check out my other story, the reaper. In the Zoids section.